PESHAWAR, Nov 3: Two police officials charged in the murder of a Union Nazim are lodged at the police club after they were taken into custody by the local police on Saturday.

The two accused, an assistant superintendent of police, Dar Ali Khattak and a station house officer (SHO), Shakirullah Bangash, were not produced before the concerned court on Sunday as the police claimed that they had not formally arrested them.

“We have not formally arrested the two officials and presently they are in the custody of the police,” claimed an official of the police who did not want to be named.

He said as the two accused officials had withdrawn their pre-arrest bail application, therefore, the police had not received any directives from the court whether to arrest them or not.

The official claimed that the police department had been consulting its legal experts so as to ascertain the legal position as what to do in the present circumstances. About lodging the officials in the club, he said for the time being they had taken them into their safe custody as the relatives of the deceased Nazim were apprehending that they might escape.

On Sunday, counsel of the deceased’s party remained present outside the court of magistrate on duty, Adil Akber Khan, presuming that the two officials would be produced before the court by the police for obtaining their physical remand. However, at closing time they came to know that the officials had not been arrested and in fact they have been kept in custody.

The relatives of the deceased, Fayyaz Khalil, claimed that the police had been trying to defend the accused and due to same reason they were keeping the entire issue a close guarded secrets. They said a Jirga of the influential community to which the deceased belong, would meet in a day or two to evolve future line of action about the partiality of local police.

The  deceased was killed on Sept 16 during  a  violent demonstration of the inhabitants of Pishtakhara, a suburban area of the provincial capital. The protesters were agitating against the Wapda for continuous power suspension in the area. Ishaq Khalil, cousin of the deceased, had charged the ASP and SHO of Pishtakhara police station for the murder.