A grave digger at the graveyard said that he saw three policemen in uniform and another in plain clothes burying a body in the graveyard without a shroud.
Several residents of Dubbanpura, Sabzazar, recognised the body of a 26 year-old man three police officials were caught burying in a graveyard on Friday night. The man had been missing since Wednesday. The body allegedly bore signs of torture.
Capital City Police Officer Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmad has taken notice of the incident and suspended an assistant sub-inspector of the Operations wing.
A grave digger at the graveyard said that he saw three policemen in uniform and another in plain clothes burying a body in the graveyard without a shroud. When he questioned them, they beat him and told him to leave. He said he informed residents of the area and after the man’s family recognised the body, the policemen fled.
Aashiq, a brother of the deceased, said that Sadiq had gone missing on Wednesday. He said they had looked everywhere for him and gone to the police when they couldn’t find him. He said the police had not taken any action in this regard.
He said that his brother’s body was covered with bruises and bore clear signs of torture. He said Sadiq had been a milkman and had Rs15,000 in his pocket when he left the house that day.
Aashiq said Sadiq had been arrested two months ago and accused of stealing a donkey cart but was released upon paying a Rs20,000 bribe.
Operations DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar has said that Sadiq did not die from police torture. He said that some policemen had found a body near the graveyard. He said the body carried no significant signs of torture. He said the police had not arrested Sadiq for theft.
Inspector General Khan Baig has issued orders to Investigations DIG Zulfiqar Hameeed and AIG Faisal Raja to initiate an inquiry of the matter. Sabzazar police said the body had been sent to a hospital for an autopsy.
DIG Hameed told The Express Tribune that he had visited the scene and spoken to the family of the deceased and police officers at the Sabzazar police station.
He said the ASI had been suspended from service because he had not followed the legal procedure under Section 174 of the CRPC (police inquiry on suicides, etc). He said the autopsy report would arrive on Monday and the inquiry had been held up till then.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2014.
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