KHANEWAL, Jan 30: Despite court orders to register a case against six policemen for allegedly torturing a man to death during custody a few days ago, the Khanewal police have not yet registered the case.

Allah Bakhsh allegedly died due to police torture during custody at Nawan Shehr police station on Jan 24, and Kabirwala Additional District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Akmal Khan had ordered registration of a case against eight people, including the six policemen, on Tuesday.

The judge had directed Khanewal DPO Shahid Hanif and the Nawan Shehr station house officer (SHO) to book ASI Muhammad Aslam Sial and constables Muhammad Ashraf Hiraj, Muhammad Iqbal Hiraj, Muhammad Riaz Tullah, Qaswar Shah and Shaukat Ali and two civilians Allah Ditta and Akram.

“It is clear violation of the court orders and amounts to contempt of court,” Javaid Hashmi, counsel for the victim’s brother, Allah Ditta, and wife Shabana later told Dawn.

He said he visited the police station on Wednesday and showed court orders to register the case, but additional SHO Riaz refused to do so, saying he would register the case only after consulting the Kabirwala DSP.

When contacted, DSP Malik Muhammad Yousaf said: “I am on leave till Thursday and presently in Lahore for my medical check-up. I don’t know about the court orders. Neither I have this information nor I can issue orders for registration of case at the moment. As soon as I resume my duty, I will initiate an inquiry in this regard.”

When Dawn tried to contact DPO Shahid Hanif, he did not respond to repeated telephone calls.

The police had not arrested any of the accused till the filing of this report.