Abused: Govt worker accuses police of illegal detention, brutality

Says constables kicked him, used clubs to beat him and kept him awake to force a confession.

ABBOTABAD:

A government employee has accused the Sherwan police of illegally detaining him for two days and subjecting him to physical abuse. The Abbottabad DPO has ordered an enquiry after a medical examination confirmed the man had been abused.

Abdul Ghafoor, 34, a worker at a water supply scheme in Thora Sherwan village, told journalists on Tuesday that thieves had been stealing pipes and iron tools. Ghafoor said his department informed the Sherwan police and he lodged a complaint after the last robbery on July 14. He was then called in by the SHO.

Ghafoor said that instead of searching for the real culprits, the officer ordered his subordinates to start interrogating him. He alleged the constables threw him in the lockup, leaving him incommunicado for two days.

“Over the two days, the police abused me. They kicked and even used clubs,” he said. The policemen used abusive language and did not let him sleep, in a bid to force a confession out of him, he added.

After his release, Ghafoor went to the District Headquarters Hospital Abbottabad, complaining of severe pains, injuries and fever. The doctors in the emergency ward confirmed three- inch wounds on the victim’s buttocks as well as bruises on his wrists and upper back.

Based on Ghafoor’s complaint, the DPO ordered Cantonment DSP Khurshid Tanoli to conduct an enquiry.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2014.