CM, IGP urged to take action against Lakki police officials

PESHAWAR: A poor family from Lakki Marwat district on Friday demanded Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani to probe the brutal torture and harassment of their school-going son by Tajori Police Station House Officer a few days ago.

“I am a poor farmer. I have no personal grudges against anybody. However, a police party headed by SHO Zafarullah along with Assistant Sub-Inspector Nizam Khan of Gambela police post raided my house on September 22 at 4:30pm for no reason at all. The police took away my son Roman, 14, without having any FIR registered against him,” the aggrieved Sheher Bandi, father of Roman, said at a news conference here.

He said that his son, a student of a local school, was not only kept in illegal custody for more than 30 hours, but also tortured and harassed. “We were neither allowed to meet him, nor any food was given to him,” he alleged.

Sheher Bandi, who visited the provincial metropolis for the first time in his 58-year life, said that his juvenile son was not involved in any anti-social activity whatsoever. “We still don’t know the reason of his arrest. However, one of the policemen told us that he was arrested at the behest of a local nazim Samiullah Mujahid of Shagai Ahmadzai village,” he said.

He alleged that nazim Samiullah Mujahid, who is affiliated with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, was involved in such inhuman acts with the support of local police only to show his influence. “SHO Zafarullah and ASI Nizam Khan clearly refused to release my son because of being under political pressure,” he said, adding that instead of protecting people, the police were working for politicians.

Roman, who was unable to walk smoothly due to police torture, said: “I was brutally beaten up at Gambela police post by police personnel at the behest of nazim Samiullah Mujahid. If I was involved in any crime, why they did not lodge an FIR against me to date?”

He said that after release, he was admitted to a hospital and he still feels pain in his body. He said that the SHO Zafarullah and ASI Nizam Khan had threatened his family with dire consequences if they made the issue public by holding a press conference or talking to media.