ISLAMABAD: National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) on Friday condemned the fresh wave killings in police custody.

In a statement, NCHR said in just one week, six incidents of torture and deaths took place in police custody and sought a detailed reports of the incident by Sept 12.

Last Friday, Salahuddin Ayubi of Gujranwala district was arrested in a robbery case and died in police custody.

According to the district police officer’s spokesperson Zeeshan Randhawa, Ayubi was behaving like a ‘mentally disturbed person’ in lockup when he suddenly became unwell and fell unconscious. He was shifted to the emergency ward of Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

NCHR took notice of the incident and formed a fact-finding team to visit the crime scene. It also sought a report from the district police officer Okara on the killing of the suspected robber.

NCHR also showed concern on a video that went viral showing a policeman misbehaving with an old woman.

It also sought a report in an incident that took place in Mansehra in which a traffic police official manhandled a motorcyclist in front of his wife and children for not possessing driving licence.

NCHR also took note of a torture cell allegedly run by SHO Lahore’s Gujarpura police station and sought a report from IGP Punjab.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2019