HARIPUR: Two policemen have been demoted here for torturing a man and extorting money from him, according to the office of the district police officer.

Official records show it was the second such case in the district during the last two months.

A few days ago, Mohammad Arshad of Ladha village, in a video message, accused head constables Adeel Ahmad Khan and Mohammad Umair, posted to the Punjab bordering Jhari Kass police post, of subjecting him to torture and extortion over refusal to make an out-of-court compromise with his rivals in a case.

As the video went viral, DPO Shafiullah Khan Gandapur ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter.

Khanpur sub-divisional police officer Raja Mohammad Bashir, who was made the inquiry officer, found both head constables guilty of “gross negligence, sheer indiscipline and complete disregard for official responsibilities and departmental misconduct in terms of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Rules, 1974 (amended 2014)”.

“The DPO called both head constables to the orderly room and heard them personally. When they failed to present any plausible justification in their defence, the DPO awarded them both a major punishment of reduction in ranks from head constable to foot constables with immediate effect,” read the order.

On April 17, the DPO had suspended another head constable, Mohammad Yousuf, who was posted to the police post Farooqia near Hattar.

He was accused of subjecting villager Ahmed Ali, 24, to severe physical torture when the latter attempted to stage a protest against the delay in arrival of ambulances to his home after a fire incident on the evening of April 16.

On his formal complaint, the Hattar police station registered a criminal case against the head constable and his 20 subordinates. However, the head constable secured post- arrest bail from a local court.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2026