Police torture: Family of man killed holds protest

BANNU:

Father of a robber, allegedly killed in police custody, protested outside the Judicial Complex with the deceased’s body on Tuesday, blocking the road for three hours.

Noor Ali, a resident of Sorangi in Mamash Khel, told the additional sessions judge in Bannu that his son Sajjad Ali was arrested by Saddar SHO Abdul Hanan three days back in an alleged robbery case. Noor claimed the official subjected him to torture and later pushed him off the roof of the police station, injuring him severely. Sajjad was then taken to DHQ hospital and his family was informed.

Noor said they tried to file a case against the SHO but no police officer registered their complaint. The injured was referred to Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, where he died. The family later brought his body outside the Judiciary Complex to protest. The judge sent the body for autopsy while DIG Bannu Azad Khan and DPO Bannu Muhammad Iqbal Khan suspended the SHO and ordered inquiry of the incident after which the protesters dispersed.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2013.