Additional Sessions Judge Muhammad Azhar Chaudhry on Saturday ordered that cases be registered against 11 policemen including a station house officer (SHO) for arresting a man and beating him.
Samundari SHO Ilyas Sahi, Sub-Inspectors Maqsood and Iqbal, and Constables Haider Abbas, Saleem, Azhar Gondal, Aslam, Abdul Aleem, Abdul Qayyum, Khalid Ayub and Muhammad Ismail had allegedly arrested and tortured Rana Abrar Ahmad, a resident of Mohalla Abrarpura, on March 3, 2014. “They [the police officials] demanded a Rs100,000 bribe from me,” Ahmad told the media on Saturday.
He said the policemen threatened to initiate a case against him if he didn’t pay the amount.
“When I refused they tortured me… I was released on March 11 after I paid them Rs5,000,” he said.
Ahmad alleged that his rivals had bribed the policemen to harass and terrorise him.
“I filed a petition with a court in Faisalabad and sought registration of a case against the policemen including the Samundari SHO as my complaints were being ignored by the police.” He said Judge Muhammad Azhar Chaudhry on Saturday had ordered Samundari police to submit the FIR against the officials at the earliest. A police spokesman told The Express Tribune on Saturday that police had registered cases against the policemen involved on court orders.
He said the FIR would be submitted in the court. “No one has been arrested yet.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 6th, 2014.