Multan trader running from pillar to post to get justice

ISLAMABAD: Ulfat Hussain is a Multan-based businessman, running a couple of rice factories, is a member of the Rice Export Association of Pakistan as well as a Corporate Member of the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MCCI).

He was abducted on January 6, 2017 while he was returning from Chiniot towards Multan. He came to know later that those who abducted him were none others but the Punjab Police officials, including one official of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

He was kept hostage in the private jails of an influential political figure in absolutely inhuman and deplorable conditions. He was tortured, humiliated, abused, and constantly threatened with his life for 6 days.

After six days Ulfat Hussain eventually succumbed to the demands of his abductors when he was told by one of the policeman keeping watch on him that he will be taken out in the night and would be killed in a fake police encounter.

Trembling in fear, he agreed to pay Rs6 million as well as signed some blank legal papers to be used in the court of law for withdrawing a case he had filed. Only after that he was released.

All this started on January 6, 2017 and the ordeal ended on January 11, 2017. During these 6 days he was kept chained by a fractured leg which was still healing in a private jail of a local landlord, was tied spread-eagled to a cot while ferocious dogs on leashes were brought to feast on his flesh, was given food to eat and water to drink in the same pan and pot in which the dogs were fed to name just a few methods of physical and mental torture he was subjected to over these 6 days. The abductors also shifted him from one place to other many a times.

A lesser being would have accepted all this as fate and would have tried to keep a low profile after he was released by his captors, unfortunately the police officials ranking from the constable right up to the officer of the rank of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP).

But Ulfat Hussain was not ready to be cowed down! On January 19, 2017 he filed an First Information Report (FIR) in the Gulgashat Police Station, nominating 9 persons by name and their designations as well against another 9 unknown persons, whom, he claimed, he can identify once seen physically. It was indeed not easy for Ulfat Hussain to get the FIR registered against the police officials who were involved in his kidnapping and had to approach the court of law.

Over the last 11 months, Ulfat Hussain has been pursuing his case and had already met with the Chief Secretary of the Punjab, the Inspector-General of Police of Punjab and had even approached the 'Grievance Cell' in the President's House in Islamabad.

A series of inquiries at different levels have already been conducted in the matter and in each enquiry the police officials and the civilians nominated in the FIR have been found guilty of all the crimes they have been charged with by Ulfat Hussain.

However, the police continued to defy registering cases under CrPC 365-A, Article 156 of the Police Order and under Section 7ATA. Instead, the police started mounting pressure from different sources on Ulfat Hussain to reach a compromise. The police has been telling him to withdraw the names of the police officials from his application that he has submitted for filing the FIR and in return they would not only register the cases against the civilians involved in the case but would also help him get some compensation as well.

However, when contacted, Multan police sources told The News that they have checked the record and there was no such issue, so the allegation of pressuring some applicant was totally baseless.

But Ulfat Hussain is not ready to budge under any kind of pressure and is determined to pursue the case to the logical end. It is almost a year now to the incident. He had been running from pillar to post. The Multan Police, despite very straightforward directions from the IGP Punjab, as well as orders from the then Regional Police Officer (RPO) is still refusing to register the case against the police officials involved in the heinous crime of abduction, illegal confinement in inhuman conditions, physical and mental torture, and extortion.

So far Ulfat Hussain has stood steadfast to his demand of action against the Multan Police officials. But it is hard to tell how long will he last in face of all the resistance and threats he and his family are facing. Now his only hope is support from media and a 'suo moto' notice by the judiciary!