PESHAWAR, Sept 14: A man has claimed to have lost sight in one eye as a result of police torture and has appealed to the authorities to take action against his tormentors. Ehsanullah, son of Abdul Ghaffar, said at a press conference that the staff of three police stations had not only tortured him, but also extorted a huge amount of money from his family.

Mr Ehsanullah said he had a dispute with a man, Munir, over a piece of agricultural land situated in Fata. Munir, who had close links with police, got him arrested by the Dabgari police.

A day after his arrest, he was remanded into judicial custody and sent to the Peshawar central jail. After 25 days, the Chamkani police booked him in another fake case and demanded money from his family for his release.

He alleged that even after receiving over Rs50,000 from his family, the police continued to torture him. The police had also warned him against contacting lawyers or journalists and threatened him with killing in a fake police encounter if he acted against their advice.

He said he had lost sight in one eye due to torture, but police had told the court that he had attempted to commit suicide and damaged the eye.

Asked to name the police officers involved in the torture, Mr Ehsanullah alleged that besides others, two SHOs (operations) Tariq Habib and Noor ul Qamar, and Assistant Sub Inspector Rahatullah were more active.

In reply to a question, he alleged that the medical staff of the Police General Hospital sided with the police officials. He said Dr Usman, on the directives of the hospital medical superintendent, had declared him physically fit for remand, although he had been unfit.

He appealed to the government to provide him justice.