CHARSSADA: The station house officer of a local police station was suspended by the district police officer for allegedly bringing his armed guard to a courtroom and exchanging hot words with the district and sessions judge.

The SHO of Shabqadar police station, Murtaza Khan, later tendered apology to the district judge, Jamal Khan, in presence of DPO Sohail Khalid. However, the DPO ordered the superintendent of police to initiate a departmental inquiry against him. The SHO was summoned to the police lines.

The Charssada District Bar Association also announced to go on strike against the incident on April 27 (Wednesday).

Sources said that the SHO was summoned by the district judge in connection with a complaint lodged by a woman, who had few days ago charged an inhabitant of Shabqadar tehsil of keeping her in wrongful confinement for a week and also assaulting her.

The district judge had accepted the application filed by the woman and ordered registration of FIR in the case. Prior to the order of the court, the father of the woman had lodged a complaint with local police regarding her disappearance. He had alleged that his daughter, who used to sell small items in streets, had gone missing.

Later, the woman was recovered by police. She alleged that she was selling different items when a man asked her to enter his residence as women of his family were inside the house. She alleged that she was kept there in confinement for a week. She said she was repeatedly assaulted by the suspect.

Following the court order about registration of an FIR on the complaint of the woman, she said, police only changed a section of Pakistan Penal Code in the already registered case regarding her disappearance and her version was not incorporated in the FIR.

An official said that court summoned the SHO to clarify his position as to why he had not been registering the FIR in light of order of the court but he told the court that he knew that the complainant was telling a lie, therefore, he didn’t register her case.

In the meantime, the police officer got angry and called his gunman to the courtroom allegedly asking him to shoot anyone if he was ordered. However, policemen deputed at the district court and lawyers forced them to leave the courtroom.

An official said that the SHO was then seen standing outside the court and hurling threats at the judge. However, the DPO reached the district courts and the SHO turned up to tender an apology.

President and vice president of Charssada District Bar Association, Dilawar Khan and Khalid Durrani, respectively, told journalists that extending respect to the judiciary was binding on every person. They said that few days ago a DSP had also used derogatory language in the courtroom. They added that an inquiry was already initiated in that case.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2016