Sticking together: Lawyers demand SHO be booked for torturing colleague
Boycott courts across Hazara division, give administration three days to take action.
They condemned the alleged torture of their colleague Advocate Awais Sarwar by City SHO Sajid Farooq in police custody. PHOTO: INP
HARIPUR:
Scores of lawyers protested on Tuesday against the alleged manhandling of their colleague by an SHO last week and issued a three-day ultimatum to the administration to take legal action against the police officer.
Lawyers observed a strike throughout Hazara division, boycotting court proceedings in protest. The black coats took out a rally from Haripur district courts and marched on Shahrah-e-Hazara, carrying banners and placards. They blocked the bustling road for over two hours and staged a sit-in near the District Police Officer’s (DPO) office.
They condemned the alleged torture of their colleague Advocate Awais Sarwar by City SHO Sajid Farooq in police custody.
They said if their colleague had committed any wrongdoing the police should have taken legal action against him rather than subjecting him to severe physical and mental torture during detention.
Local leaders of the legal fraternity said they had opted for a peaceful resolution of the dispute and lodged a complaint against the SHO with the Haripur DPO and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IGP, seeking an enquiry against the official and his transfer. However, they said, instead of acting on their complaint, the police, at the behest of the city’s big shots, motivated some of their agents to take out a procession in favour of the SHO a few days ago.
Members of the legal fraternity said since Sarwar’s medical report proved bone injuries on his neck and a ruptured eardrum, the administration must immediately register a criminal case against the SHO.
They added failure to do so would force them to protest indefinitely.
High Court Bar Association President Shad Muhammad Khan, Haripur Bar Association President Abdul Razaq Chughtai and Dr Hasnain Raza Turabi were among those who spoke on the occasion.
According to Sarwar, there was a complaint against him by his former in-laws who accused him of opening fire at their house after which Farooq picked him up from his home last week and tortured him at the police station. According to the victim, the thrashing left his neck bone fractured and eardrum ruptured. He accused the SHO of meting degrading and cruel treatment at the instigation of Sarwar’s political rivals and an influential personality of the city.
Meanwhile, lawyers in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan also boycotted court proceedings on the call of the K-P Bar Council against the manhandling of their colleague and demanded legal action against the SHO.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2014.
Scores of lawyers protested on Tuesday against the alleged manhandling of their colleague by an SHO last week and issued a three-day ultimatum to the administration to take legal action against the police officer.
Lawyers observed a strike throughout Hazara division, boycotting court proceedings in protest. The black coats took out a rally from Haripur district courts and marched on Shahrah-e-Hazara, carrying banners and placards. They blocked the bustling road for over two hours and staged a sit-in near the District Police Officer’s (DPO) office.
They condemned the alleged torture of their colleague Advocate Awais Sarwar by City SHO Sajid Farooq in police custody.
They said if their colleague had committed any wrongdoing the police should have taken legal action against him rather than subjecting him to severe physical and mental torture during detention.
Local leaders of the legal fraternity said they had opted for a peaceful resolution of the dispute and lodged a complaint against the SHO with the Haripur DPO and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IGP, seeking an enquiry against the official and his transfer. However, they said, instead of acting on their complaint, the police, at the behest of the city’s big shots, motivated some of their agents to take out a procession in favour of the SHO a few days ago.
Members of the legal fraternity said since Sarwar’s medical report proved bone injuries on his neck and a ruptured eardrum, the administration must immediately register a criminal case against the SHO.
They added failure to do so would force them to protest indefinitely.
High Court Bar Association President Shad Muhammad Khan, Haripur Bar Association President Abdul Razaq Chughtai and Dr Hasnain Raza Turabi were among those who spoke on the occasion.
According to Sarwar, there was a complaint against him by his former in-laws who accused him of opening fire at their house after which Farooq picked him up from his home last week and tortured him at the police station. According to the victim, the thrashing left his neck bone fractured and eardrum ruptured. He accused the SHO of meting degrading and cruel treatment at the instigation of Sarwar’s political rivals and an influential personality of the city.
Meanwhile, lawyers in Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram and Kohistan also boycotted court proceedings on the call of the K-P Bar Council against the manhandling of their colleague and demanded legal action against the SHO.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2014.