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| January 11, 2006 | Wednesday | Zilhaj 10, 1426 |
Tanker driver alleges police victimization
FAISALABAD, Jan 10: The district police allegedly kept a poor oil-tanker driver in illegal custody and threatened him with killing him in fake encounter, besides implicating him of supplying arms to a cult leader. They, however, let him go after taking bribe. Umar Gul, a resident of Awami Town on the Jaranwala Road, told this correspondent on Tuesday that he had been an oil tanker driver for the last 20 years and feeding his family through this profession.
On Dec 21 last year, he said Saddar SHO Mian Younas-headed team raided his house and gave him a sound beating, besides misbehaving with the female members of the family.
“I was taken to the Saddar police station where SHO Mian Younas, ASI Bashir Luna and constable Khalid forced me to confess that I had supplied weapons to Shahbaz Ahmad, who had claimed himself to be Imam Mehdi. Being innocent, I refused to do so after which the police tortured me and threatened me with killing in a fake encounter.
“I had neither any connection with Shahbaz nor am I involved in any weapon trade, but the police personnel left no stone unturned in implicating me in a case,” he explained.
He further said after two days of illegal confinement, a police tout, Ashiq Ali, met him in the police station and offered the release against a bribe of Rs200,000. None of my family members was allowed to see me during the confinement.
“The tout also presented me some newspapers in police station in which I was dubbed as a weapon smuggler and an accomplice of the self-styled Imam Mehdi.”
The victim said he eventually managed to get out of detention after paying Rs13,000 as advance of the Rs60,000 deal he had struck with his tormentors.
He said the policemen were still threatening him with dire consequences and forcing him to pay the balance.
Umar Gul also told this correspondent that all his efforts to inform the higher-ups about corruption and ill-treatment by the law enforcers, but to no avail.
He demanded that the governor, the chief minister and the IGP should take stock of the situation and bring the policemen to book.
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