LARKANA: Senior Superintendent of Police Ghulam Shabbir Sethar on Wednesday suspended and demoted SHO Fida Hussain Langah and writing head constable (WHC) Abdul Rasheed Bhutto for illegally detaining Imran Brohi, a student of class five, handcuffed and put in the same lockup with a grownup suspect in Dari police station on Aug 13.

Mr Sethar told Dawn on Wednesday that action had been taken against the police officials in the light of an inquiry report about the judge’s raid and discovery of the boy in the lockup submitted to him by ASP city Babar Jawed Joya. They had been directed to report at police headquarters, he said.

The FIR registered against the boy under Sections 381-A and 511 of CrPC by the SHO had been quashed after civil judge and judicial magistrate-III paid surprise visit to the police station and the boy had subsequently been released, said the SSP.

Inspector Aslam Abro had been posted as new SHO at Dari police station while Rabnawaz Mangi had been made WHC, according to PRO to the SSP.

The suspended SHO Fida Hussain Langah appeared before the district and sessions judge Abdul Naeem Memon on Wednesday and filed a statement regarding the arrest of one Ashiq Kharos and did not say anything about the boy.

He said that only a day before the raid Kharos was picked up as he was wanted in two FIR’s registered against him, said Abid Abro, lawyer of Kharos.

He said the judge admonished the SHO, issued a show-case notice against him and disposed of the petition, which was filed by Mashooq Kharos, brother of Ashiq, accusing the SHO of keeping his brother in habeas corpus for about 14 days.

The judge had appointed civil judge and third judicial magistrate Zafarullah Jakhrani as raid commissioner to locate the man and the judge found in the raid Kharos handcuffed along with the boy Imran Brohi on Aug 13.

Sources in police said that law enforcers had picked up the boy on the basis of CCTV footage showing the boy allegedly attempting to steal a motorbike.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2018