LAHORE, May 27: Over 20 people have been “languishing in illegal custody” of the railway police for four days.

On Monday, dozens of people, including the relatives of the detainees, staged a protest in front of the Lahore Press Club on Monday. They told reporters the police raided a kutcha abadi close to the railways Headquarters and picked up over 20 people for reasons best known to them (police).

One protester Ishaq said the detainees were being subjected to a severe torture and they were denied any meeting with their relatives for a legal assistance.

“The police are not even telling us as to why these people have been picked up and on what charges,” Bushra, who claimed her 18-year-old son was among the arrested people, said.

However, railway police SP Chaudhry Riaz told Dawn by phone that no one was in the illegal custody. “We did pick up some people for interrogation in connection with a house robbery and but released them later,” he said.