Man accuses police, influential people of torturing, depriving him of property

Lahore :A property dealer has alleged Punjab police of robbing him of his properties and wealth. He enumerated the alleged cruelties committed by police and some influential people who, according to him, wreaked havoc on his life, destroying him economically and socially.

Irshad Sindhu, a property dealer for the last 20 years, held a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Thursday and said he was successfully doing his business when a British passport holder man, Haji Muhammad Shamim and his son Asad Shamim visited him and said they wanted to buy his plaza located on main Raiwind Road.

They paid him token money and set a date to make the whole payment that was due. Two years have passed since then, the payment is yet to be made, he said. He lodged a case in a civil court on February 28, 2018 with regard to the payment of the rest of the amount.

Instead, a false case of abduction was filed against him with the CCPO Lahore, alleged Irshad Sindhu. He was forcibly picked and taken to CIA Nawan Kot by CIA DSP Saeed Anwar Kangra and his team, he said. Later, he was shifted to Asad Shamim’s house in Valencia Town where he was kept under “house arrest” for over a month. There he was physically tortured, he said. During this period, he said, they snatched his properties, his cars, blackmailed his family and received ransom from them.

Later, the “culprits” registered a false case, 401/18, of his abduction in Sattu Katla police station, he continued. On April 20, 2018, they made his arrest public on pressure from higher authorities and shifted him to CIA Centre Nawankot where Sub Inspector Mazhar Iqbal and others allegedly severely tortured him and kept getting his physical remand from an ATC for 72 days. They lodged false cases against his brothers and friends to prevent them from fighting his case, he alleged.

“They made me sign off my property under duress with handcuffs on in the name of Javed Aftab Mir. In this state, I was taken to a revenue office and offices of societies and was forced to give the statement they wanted. When I refused to do so, they applied ‘3rd degree torture’ on me and gave threats to me,” Sindhu said.

“During trial in ATC, they declared all the violation of my rights as ridiculous, a concoction of my imagination and a drama and set me free on July 24, 2019,” he said.

Through the media, Irshad Sindhu has appealed to the prime minister, chief of army staff, chief justice of Supreme Court, chief justice of Lahore High Court and inspector general of police, Punjab, to help him and direct the authorities concerned to look into the matter and take action against the accused. He said he was running from pillar to post. He said now the accused had also threatened him of abduction and killing apart from implicating him in a false case. He appealed to the authorities concerned to help him get back his property and money. He threatened to go on hunger strike in front of the Punjab Assembly building if his appeal was not heeded.

When contacted, the public relation officer of the police investigation wing said a formal inquiry will be held to probe the allegations. He added if the allegations are proved true, strict action will be taken against the officials concerned.