Duty calls: CM orders inquiry against policemen for ‘torturing’ NTS candidates

The candidates were holding a protest in Khairpur when the police ‘manhandled’ them.


Our Correspondent June 30, 2014

SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has ordered an inquiry against policemen for allegedly beating up the passing candidates of the National Testing Services (NTS) who were demonstrating in Khairpur.

The chief minister also directed the Khairpur SSP to probe the matter and submit a report within two days.

On Saturday, several NTS candidates from Sukkur division staged a protest rally from Khairpur Press Club to Jillani House, the residence of the chief minister. The candidates, led by Mir Mohammad Sahito, Zubair Ahmed Junejo and others, staged a sit-in outside Jillani House. They shouted slogans against the government for failing to issue offer letters to them even though they passed their NTS exams last year.

Meanwhile, A-Section police station SHO Lal Bux Dahar and a large number of policemen reached the sit-in location and started baton-charging the protesters. The protesters claimed that the policemen started beating them up with wooden sticks, without any warning. They dragged some of them on the ground and pulled their hair, one protester claimed. Several candidates were injured and more than a dozen of them were locked-up.

The chief minister took notice of the incident. He contacted the Khairpur deputy commissioner, Munawar Ali Mithyani, and told him to release the arrested candidates immediately. He also asked him to submit an inquiry report and take action against the policemen responsible for the incident. Following these directions, some of the candidates were released on Saturday night while the remaining ones were released on Sunday morning.

Mithyani confirmed to The Express Tribune that the chief minister has given strict orders to release the arrested men. The SSP is conducting an inquiry, he added. For his part, Khairpur SSP Usman Ghani told The Express Tribune that the Khairpur Headquarter SP has been appointed as the inquiry officer, who will submit the report in two days.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2014.

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