CHARSADDA: Charsadda district police officer Nazir Khan on Monday suspended a station house officer, two police moharrars, and a wireless operator over a custodial death and ordered an inquiry into it.

SHO of the Shabqadar police station Muzaffar Khan reported that Shahzad, a resident of Landi Road, “accidentally” suffered gunshot wounds in the abdomen after he tried to snatch the seized pistol from moharrar Sajjad Khan in the wireless room.

Constable Sajjad said he immediately shifted the injured to the Shabqadar tehsil headquarters hospital, where he was admitted.

SHO Muzaffar Khan said he was on polio duty when police personnel spotted Shahzad in a “suspicious condition” near the police station.

He added that the police patrolling the Landi Road recovered 30-bore loaded pistols and five cartridges from the possession of Shahzad, who was later shifted to the police station.

The SHO said at that time, moharrar Sajjad was present in the wireless room of the police station, where he was speaking to the police personnel deployed with polio teams.

DIG of Mardan Region Mohammad Sulaiman Khan took notice of the incident, ordered the registration of an FIR of the incident, and ordered an immediate inquiry.

DPO Nazir Khan suspended Shabqadar police station SHO Muzaffar Khan, moharrar Sajjad, Ehsan and wireless operator Shehzad and ordered an inquiry against them under the supervision of SP (investigation) Sanobar Shah.

He said if anyone was found responsible for custodial death, strict departmental action would be taken against them.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2024