Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday took notice of a video in which a man was beaten by some police officials and forced to lick the feet of a member of the provincial assembly (MPA).
The chief minister ordered the district police officer (DPO) that a report on the video should be submitted to him within 24 hours.
DPO Ghazi Muhammad Salahuddin told The Express Tribune that the video was grainy and generally of poor quality and showed a man being beaten by men in police uniforms, verbally abused and forced to lick the feet of a person, believed to be MPA Qaiser Maghsi.
The district police chief said Chobara police ASI Muhammad Nawaz was also heard and seen in the video footage.
The DPO said the footage, which was first aired on private television channels, had been obtained and sent to the forensic laboratory for examination. He reiterated that on account of the video’s quality it was difficult to identify the people in it.
The DPO further said that the video was believed to be at least a year old because a station house officer (SHO) accused of being in the video had been transferred from the local police station a year ago.
He said the incumbent SHO, Muhammad Yousaf, had taken charge of the post six months ago. The DPO said the SHO had denied the charge.
The SHO said he was new to the area and did not know the MPA personally.
He said no one had come forward with a formal complaint regarding the incident. He said the police were looking for the alleged victim so that he could join the investigation.
The DPO also expressed doubts that the incident had occurred in Layyah at all.
MPA Qaiser Magsi denied that he was in the video or was in any way involved. He said he was not aware of the incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2014.