PESHAWAR, Oct 12: Two constables of the Lakki Marwat district police, who were charged of murdering a young resident of Serai Naurang town last month, go unpunished as senior police officials and doctors of a local hospital colluded to protect them, the victim’s father has said.

He has sent an appeal to the chief minister seeking action against the policemen.

The victim, Farmanullah Khan, was arrested by a police team on patrol comprising head constable Mohammad Ameer and constable Najeebullah of Serai Naurang police station when he was smoking a charas cigarette. The policemen thrashed the accused with rifle butts on the head and other vital parts of his body when he refused to go with them to the police station, sources told Dawn.

Later, they put the headgear of the accused into his neck and dragged him to the police station, where he died of torture, sources claimed.

Subsequently, a murder case (No.223, dated: Sept 16, 2003) was registered against the two policemen in the Serai Naurang police station when the residents took to the streets and put the body on the road, blocking it for four hours in protest against police brutality.

However, senior police officials and the doctors of the civil hospital, Serai Naurang, conspired to protect the policemen and sent the victim’s body parts to the Khyber Medical College for laboratory test to confirm whether he had died of narcotics use or torture.

Sources said the KMC laboratory technician refused to conduct the test and said the doctors had used undiluted formalin, which had damaged the tissues and the autopsy was not possible.

The victim’s father, Faizullah Khan, alleged in his appeal that Serai Naurang Station House Officer Mohammad Fareed was instrumental in protecting the accused.

They were only sent to the police lines without being arrested, he said and added that no punitive action was taken against them for homicide.

Sources at the civil hospital said the victim’s body parts had been returned from the KMC laboratory without any test.

According to the sources, the doctors conducted postmortem on the body five hours after the death and declared in the report that the victim had died of narcotics use.

The sources said the body bore marks of torture on the neck, hands and  other vital parts. They said a ‘double cigarette’ had never killed anybody on the spot.

The victim’s father appealed to the chief minister and the police authorities to take action against the accused.