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HYDERABAD, July 31: Hundreds of Hatri villagers blocked the Civil Hospital road for five hours and burnt tyres on Wednesday to protest against the torture on a villager, Imam Ali Dahiri, in the custody of the Hatri police.
Mr Imam was brought to the hospital at 12pm. It was then that the villagers blocked the road by burning tyres suspending the normal flow of traffic.
Soon all the main shops in the area were closed down and remained so till the evening.
The protesters chanted slogans against the police. They demanded that the SHO, Hatri police station, Dost Mangrio, and other policemen concerned be terminated from service.
A heavy contingent of police was deployed in the area to take control of the situation.
The protesters dispersed after the DSP, headquarters, Manzoor Khatiyan, assured them that the SHO had been suspended and an inquiry would be conducted in the mosque of the area as per the demand of Mr Imam’s relatives.
A villager, Maulana Faiz Mohammed Halepoto, said that Mr Imam was subjected to torture by the Hatri police and then brought to the Civil Hospital.
He said that Mr Imam was not involved in any crime yet he was arrested by the police three days ago for a robbery committed at the Sartaj petrol pump, near Tandojam.
The DSP, headquarters, said that action would be taken against all those officials who were responsible for subjecting Mr Imam to torture.
Wazir Ali, a relative of Mr Imam, said that he along with some other relatives went to the Hatri police station but the SHO, Dost Mohammed Dahiri, demanded Rs25,000 from them for his release.
He said that their failure to pay bribe led to Imam being severely tortured by the police.
He said that on Wednesday they came to know through reliable sources that Mr Imam had been taken to the Civil Hospital.
Dr Sharjeel Sheikh told this correspondent that Mr Imam suffered a 2 to 3 centimeter deep cut on his throat. He said that Dr Aziz Leghari had applied the stitches and his arteries were safe.
The TPO, Tandojam, Arif Aziz, while talking to newsmen, claimed that Mr Imam had tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat with a sharp-edged weapon.
He denied that the police officials had tried to kill him, and added that he was only being interrogated in connection with the robbery committed at the Sartaj petrol pump.
MAN PICKED UP: The Kotri police picked up a man, Zulfiqar Ali Shah, the husband of an old woman, Razia Shah, who was murdered in cold blood in the Muslim Town, Kotri, in the wee hours of Sunday.
Three more suspects have also been picked up by the police.
An official claimed that the Zulfiqar was the prime suspect in the murder of his wife because there was evidence that he had estranged relations with his wife.
Several people on Tuesday took out a rally from the Muslim Town which culminated at the press club. They demanded fair investigation of the case.
They later went to the office of the SP, Kotri, Sharjeel Karim Kharal, who assured them that the investigation would be fair.
It may be recalled that Ms Razia Shah was found dead in her house on Sunday.
Her husband claimed that he had gone for getting milk from his cattle pen and when he returned he found his wife lying in a pool of blood.
