SHO in Peshawar suspended after citizen dies in custody

PESHAWAR: A station house officer (SHO) was suspended Monday after a citizen died in police custody allegedly due to severe torture.

It was learnt that the Agha Mir Jani Shah SHO, Ibad Wazir along with other cops raided a house in Qazi Killay on Sunday. He allegedly humiliated the female members of the family in the presence of a number of people. The police party later arrested the owner of the house, Fida Mohammad, and took him to the police station where he was allegedly subjected to a severe torture. The detained person died in custody late Sunday night.

His family members later on Monday placed his body on the Ring Road and blocked it for traffic as a mark of protest. They demanded registration of the first information report (FIR) in the case and dismissal of the SHO and his cops for causing the death of Fida Mohammad and humiliating the family.

"Capital City Police Officer Qazi Jamilur Rehman, while taking notice of the death of a local during interrogation has suspended SHO Agha Mir Jani Shah, Ibad Wazir and ordered registration of a FIR against those involved in negligence or any illegal action," a spokesman for the Capital City Police told reporters.

He said the deceased was wanted by the police in a case registered on September 21. The spokesman added that the CCPO had made it clear that nobody was above the law and no cops would be allowed to take any illegal action or violate basic human rights.

Meanwhile, the FIR was lodged against SHO, Ibad Wazir, Rahat Khan and his gunmen in his own police station. It isn't known if the cops were arrested or are still at large. The complainant Imran Mohammad alleged in the FIR that his brother Fida Mohammad was first tortured in front of his family members at home. He alleged that the SHO removed rings and ornaments from the women of the house and took away cash and other valuables.

The complainant claimed that later the police took away Fida Mohammad and tortured him to death while his nephew Ashfaq was severely injured due to torture by the police. It was gathered that IGP also took notice of the issue and directed the CCPO to take departmental action against all those involved in the case. He directed him to present him the report of the incident within three days.

There had been a number of complaints against the Yakatoot (Agha Mir Jani Shah) Police Station SHO. He was accused of conducting illegal raids even outside his jurisdiction, violating basic human rights and insulting women in the presence of people. Some of the families had recently approached the inspector general of police and other senior cops in this respect.

There were also complaints that the SHO in question and some other DSPs and SHOs humiliated families and arrested relatives of the accused in the Frontier Crimes Regulation-like actions when relatives of the suspects used to be held under collective responsibility clause of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

Some of these officers allegedly implicate people in false cases to justify their raids. The police bosses allegedly support them without probing whether the charges against the accused are true or otherwise.

Despite innumerable complaints against SHO Ibad Wazir and some other officers, senior cops continued encouraging such officials by refusing to take action on any of the complaints. Some of these actions reported during recent months tarnished the image of the KP Police.