JHANG: The Kotwali police on Sunday registered a FIR against 40 people for staging a protest against the police and demanding registration of murder case against a sub-inspector over killing of their family member in the lock-up.

The deceased, Ghulam Yasin (30), was arrested by Kotwali police and he was killed in custody in connivance with his opponents, his family alleged.

Yasin’s mother and an uncle, Tassawar, told the reporters that Kotwali police Sub-Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed along with other policemen had arrested the deceased last week but did not mention in his arrest in official record. They alleged that Yasin was arrested in the connivance with the family opponents who had accused him of kidnapping his own aunt. They explained that the deceased had provided shelter to his aunt to save her from a forced marriage.

They further alleged that the police kept the arrest secret for a week and killed him in the lock-up. The police tried to convert the murder case into a suicide by registering the complaint against Yasin and his arrest on the same date. They said the senior police officers had managed to get autopsy report of their own choice to save Kotwali police sub-inspector.

The protesters had demanded immediate arrest of SI Mushtaq and other police officials responsible for the alleged murder. They appealed to the chief justices of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court and the chief minister to take notice of the police high-handedness.

The PRO of the Jhang police stated that a case was registered against Yasin for kidnapping his aunt. He said the suspect was in police lock-up along with other accused where he committed suicide because of a mental pressure. He added that on the orders of the magistrate, the body of Yasin was being shifted to the district headquarters hospital for autopsy when 40 people, including 27 nominated men and women, staged a protest, blocked the road and manhandled the policemen.

The FIR under various sections of the PPC and 16-MPO has been registered on the complaint of Sub Inspector Mushtaq Ahmed against the protesters.

INQUIRY: Tacking notice of the recovery of the medicine from a barber shop and a private hospital, District Health Authority’s administrator/DC Mudassar Riaz Malik has directed the DHA’s chief execrative officer (CEO) to hold a probe into the matter and search for the officials involved in the scam.

Sources said the Jhang DHQ hospital’s medical store was upgraded by establishing extra medicine distribution counters and recruiting staff for the purpose. They maximum stock of medicines was provided by the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department to public health outlets.

Questions were raised over the utilisation on the medicines of the DHQ hospital and other public health outlets when a big quantity of the medicines was recovered from a barber shop on Darul Sakina Road on Saturday.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2018