Victim said the main accused, ASI Tariq Saeed, is sending messengers to him, asking that he dismiss the case. PHOTO: OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS/FILE
ABBOTABAD:
A trader who claims he was tortured recently during police detention has accused authorities of pressuring him into striking a compromise.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, 32-year-old Adil Iqbal, a trunk dealer of Dhobi Ghat Bazaar, accused the Cantonment police of coercing him through various sources to withdraw his complaint. He said the main accused, ASI Tariq Saeed, is sending messengers to him, asking that he dismiss the case. Iqbal added that he would not back down and ensure the case reaches its logical end.
Iqbal claims that Khurram Shehzad, a resident of Gali Baniyan village, was his client for seven years and had been purchasing trunk material (steel boxes and cupboards) from him.
He said Shehzad owed him a sum of Rs28,800 but was not clearing his dues. On May 30, he called Shehzad and his brother to pay him his money but after having a cup of tea, Shehzad called the police for help after which ASI Tariq Saeed came to his shop and took Iqbal away to the station where he was allegedly thrashed mercilessly.
“They undressed me and beat me up for three hours straight,” Iqbal said, adding the ASI repeated the torture for three days. “He (Saeed) kept saying how I dare ask the nephew (Shehzad) of a police constable to pay the money back,” revealed Iqbal, saying when the trade representatives learnt about his detention they secured his release.
Later, traders Sardar Qaisar Latif, Naeem Awan and Sher Dil Khan, along with human rights activists, took the victim to DSP Headquarters Khursheed Khan and lodged a complaint against the ASI, demanding the registration of an FIR against him.
The DSP sent the alleged torture victim to District Headquarters Hospital for a medical examination and, according to hospital sources, the body of the victim bore torture marks.
When approached for comments, Cantonment police SHO Gulzar Khan said an enquiry was under way and once completed, it would be decided whether the ASI would be punished or not.
Meanwhile, the programme manager of Human Development Organisation, which is working against custodial abuses in Hazara division, condemned the torture incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2014.
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When I see people like Adil Iqbal who is standing up for his rights, there is hope for people of Pakistan, they may not reach there soon but eventually things will get better and police has to respect the public because they are the ones who are paying their salaries. I say make an example of ASI Tariq Saeed, he should be fired from his job, there should be no room in the police for people like him. Are you reading this article Mr.Imran Khan?