Judicial commission confirms police brutality against man

PESHAWAR: A judicial inquiry commission report on police brutality and inhuman treatment of a man in Peshawar had come to the fore.

Police tortured a man, Radiullah alias Amirey, stripped him naked, made his video and uploaded it on the social media. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had formed a judicial commission to investigate the incident. Peshawar High Court Justice Lal Jan Khattak investigated the incident. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was severely criticised over the embarrassing Tehkal incident on June 24, 2020.

The commission declared the incident a criminal act and said that the inaction and failure on the part of the police to go by the book against their critics were the root-causes of the untoward incident. Neither the Police Department nor the police officials ever tried to handle the issue in accordance with the law. No report had been registered against the man for making immoral remarks against the police officers in the video.

“Omission and inaction can well be termed the worst example of delinquency on the part of the police. Had action, under the law prescribed for, been taken by the police against the wrongdoers of video, situation could have been different than the one emerged and faced by the government,” the report said.

The commission declared the incident a personal and individual act of a few police personnel, acting under their own whims and caprices. The inquiry commission stated that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Police Department as an institution could not be blamed, nor the incident could be termed the outcome of any institutional lacunae.

The record showed that neither the high-ups of the Police Department nor the then SHOs of Police Stations Tehkal and Yakatoot (AMJS) ever tried to handle the issue, depicted in the video, in accordance with the law. So much so that no report was ever lodged by any of the police personnel under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 with the Competent Authority regarding the victim's nonsense as shown in his video.

The history of KP police is replete with sacrifices and braveries. Since the start of the insurgency in the area, its 1,437 personnel including two Additional IGPs, two DIGs, seven SPs, 25 DSPs and 25 inspectors have embraced shahadat and 2,738 personnel received critical injuries.

The judicial report stated that no doubt, the orders to go behind the vulgarians of the video had come from the police high-ups to the SHOs, but such orders did not authorise the latter to take the law into their own hands by proceeding against the victim in an unlawful manner, as to be treated in accordance with the law. It was established that SSP operations had ordered SP Cantt and SP City to trace out the culprits and take legal action.

As under Section 4(1)(p) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Act 2017, it is the duty of every police officer to obey only the lawful orders of his superiors. Besides, a junior police officer must garner the courage to say 'NO' to an illegal order given to him by his superiors.

In the light of the facts unearthed, the main role in the incident had been played by Sub-Inspector Shehriyar Khan and Inspector Imranuddin, the then SHOs of Police Stations Tehkal and Yakatoot, respectively. Both police officers have been blamed by the victim for his ordeal. He said that after his arrest from the house of his cousin, he was not only beaten by the police but also stripped naked on-the-spot. Police took him in naked condition to the Police Station Tehkal where he was again subjected to torture in the office of SHO, and his video was also recorded by some police personnel.

The inquiry commission said both police officers were responsible for the torture, stripping him and making his video. Apart from the role of the two police officers, the part played by constables Tauseef Alam and Naeem Khan too was not ignorable, which equally showed their role in the incident.

Constables Naeem Khan, Tauseef Alam and ASI Zahirullah used their mobile phones for receiving and sharing videos of Radiullah alias Amirey. Moreover, the report of the PFSA with respect to the video footage showed that no editing feature was found in the videos.

The commission, however, exonerated ASI Zahirullah of the allegations.

The commission said that at the time of raiding the victim's house, some of the police personnel were not only in civil dress but they also used private vehicles to reach the spot, which was is very deplorable act.

According to the Police Rules of 1934, police officers of all ranks are duty-bound to be in uniforms, and wearing plainclothes for them and other members of the force are absolutely prohibited during any raid or arrest of the accused. Any slightest indiscipline may lead to a fissure in the organisation, which will ultimately affect its performance.

Similarly, the use of private vehicles in raid and arrest proceedings, except in the cases of counterterrorism and kidnapping for ransom, may also not be countenanced as the same violates the discipline. The commission also recommended the use of body cams by the police personnel engaged in any operation. Furthermore, Police Act 2017, Section 4 (n) says that it shall be the duty of every police officer to ensure that the information about the arrest of a person is promptly communicated to a person of his choice. But unfortunately, the said provision of the law was not adhered to by the police officers.