SWABI, Oct 26: The enraged residents of Manki village blocked G.T. Road and tried to attack a police post here on Wednesday to protest what they claimed death of a person due to police torture.

Policemen opened firing on the protesters when they tried to ransack a police post. However, policemen failed to stop the protesters from entering the post despite opening fire on them.

Witnesses said that the enraged villagers, joined by students, retaliated and entered the post to damage belongings of policemen. The protesters demanded judicial inquiry into the incident.

Officials at Sherabad police post said they had arrested Atals Khan and his son Hukam Khan on suspicion of their involvement in a robbery at a utility store outlet on October 17.

They were set free after a former councillor approached police and took them to their home where Atlas Khan died at night.

Hukam Khan alleged that they were interrogated and brutally tortured by police. “Police were demanding Rs25,000 from us for our release,” he told journalists.

The villagers placed the body of the victim on Swabi-Jahangira Road and blocked it for six hours to protest the alleged torture by police.

Local students also joined the villagers in their protest and marched towards the police post. Police opened firing on the protesters to stop them from entering the post.

The protesters, some of whom were also armed, retaliated and entered the post where they damaged belongings of the policemen. However, local political leaders rushed to the spot and controlled the enraged protesters.

District Police Officer Mohammad Ejaz Khan, when contacted, said that a judicial inquiry was ordered into the incident to determine the cause of Atlas Khan's death.

He said that the entire staff of Sherabad police post was suspended and an FIR was registered on the report of the victim's son Hukam Khan.

Hukam Khan alleged that ASI Farooq Zaman and some policemen tortured them and gave them electric shocks. Marks of violence were visible on the bodies of Atlas Khan and his son.