BAHAWALNAGAR: Six policemen, including a sub-inspector (SI), were booked on Tuesday for allegedly torturing a mentally challenged youth after the family approached the DPO for justice in an open court.

Police sources told Dawn that Junaid of Basti Roda Singh went missing on April 21. The next day, his brother Zeshan received a call from Haroonabad City police that his brother had met with an accident and was lying injured at the police station.

Later, the family came to know that SI Muhammad Umar along with five unknown City police officials had subjected Junaid to brutal torture, broke his cell phone and took out Rs5,000 from his pocket.

The police officials ordered the victim’s family to remain silent on the matter and threatened them with dire consequences in case of any complaint. The policemen instructed the family to call the above matter an accident and took a signature from the family on a blank paper.

When the family tried to approach the DPO over the matter, the cops threatened to implicate them in criminal cases.

On Monday, the family contacted the district police officer at an open court held at DPO office, narrated all the event in a written complaint and sought justice. Responding to it, the DPO took notice, investigated the matter on the spot and ordered to book the policemen after they were found guilty in the probe. A departmental inquiry was also initiated against them.

When contacted, Bahawalnagar DPO Naseebullah Khan confirmed that a case had been registered against six officials under section 342 of Pakistan Penal Code and 156D Police Order 2002. He said the abuse of authority was not acceptable in any case and those found guilty in the inquiry would be dismissed from service.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2024