KARACHI: Two victims say police burnt them in lock-up - 12 policemen suspended
By Arman Sabir
KARACHI, Aug 23: Two suspected robbers were in precarious condition on Monday after sustaining serious burns while in police custody at Gizri police station.
Doctors at the civil hospital, where the victims, Saleem, 41, and Ameer Zada alias Amjad, 35, were brought on Monday morning, said that both of them had sustained above 90 per cent burns.
The suspects, in police remand till Aug 22, were to be produced before a court on Monday for further remand. The doctors quoted the victims as telling them that they had been tortured by police after being arrested on Aug 9.
Police said that both of them had been arrested on Aug 18 and were remanded in police custody till Aug 22. The police also confirmed that they were to be produced before the court for further remand.
Sindh police chief Syed Kamal Shah has placed under suspension the concerned DSP and ASP, as well as the SHO and other staff of the Gizri police station. He has also constituted a team, headed by SSP Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, to conduct a probe into the incident.
City police cheif Tariq Jamil said that the two suspects had been undergoing interrogation for their alleged involvement in some robberies. "We have suspended police officials for negligence and an inquiry is being conducted into the incident."
According to DIG Operations Fayyaz Leghari, Saleem and Ameer Zada had been picked up while police were looking for members of a robbers' gang. The two suspects, he added, had told investigators that their gang comprised 15-16 members and the ring leader was Badshah Khan, a police constable.
He pointed out that Badshah Khan was absent from duty for the past three-and-a-half months and that police were looking for him. He said that another suspect, Abdul Waseem, had been kept in the same lock-up where Saleem and Ameer Zada had been lodged.
The DIG quoted Waseem as saying that he was asleep and woke up with the screams of Saleem and Ameer Zada who he saw were coming out of the lock-up's bathroom with their clothes in flames. Waseem said he tried to put out the fire and in this process got his own arms burnt.
Guessing that petrol or kerosene might have been used in the incident, the DIG wondered that how was it taken into the lock-up. He maintained that the victims had been rushed to the civil hospital.
At the civil hospital, Medical Superintendent Ali Raza, soon after a TV channel's team got the victims interviewed, ordered that no media men be allowed access to the suspects.
DIG Leghari said: "We have suspended some officials and also considering registration of cases of criminal negligence against them under the Police Order-2002." He said the two suspects had been taken to civil hospital for medical check-up on Sunday night on the orders of a court.
Doctors at the civil hospital, verified the police claim, said that Saleem had complained of pain in his kidneys. There was no sign of torture on his body, they added, and said that he was accordingly referred to the concerned doctors.
Ameer Zada complained of torture by police and the swelling on his left arm and left ankle was visible, they said. He was also referred to the concerned doctors. However, the police did not allow them to be admitted to the hospital.
They were taken back to the lock-up instead. Mr Leghari maintained that the court orders for medical check-up did not particularly mention that the suspects be admitted to hospital.
The doctors pointed out that police did not call a magistrate for recording 'dying declaration' of the suspects. Though the police recorded their statements in presence of doctors, they neither took the doctors' signatures nor did they provide them copies of declaration.
The doctors apprehended that the contents of the declaration could be changed by the police as the suspects had named certain police officials, including the SHO of Gizri, accusing them of incinerating them.
The doctors themselves called out a magistrate to record the victims' dying declaration but till filing of this report, the magistrate had not arrived at the hospital.
SUSPENSION: The Sindh police chief Syed Kamal Shah has suspended 12 policemen and ordered registration of criminal cases against the staff of the Gizri police station, a spokesman for the PPO told Dawn.
Those suspended are ASP Darakhshan Mehboob Rasheed, DSP Investigation Malick Ahsan, SHO Gizri Abdul Ghaffar Jumani, inquiry officer SI Arif Usman, station inquiry officer SI Manzoor Ahmed, shift duty officer ASI Faiz Ali, head moharer ASI Mohammad Hanif, guard incharge HC Abid, and PCs Badaruddin, Salman Burney, Barkat Ali and Iqbal.
