Couple complain of manhandling by police

ABBOTTABAD: The police allegedly manhandled a couple travelling to Nathiagali and put them behind bars at the Dungagali Police Station.

It was learnt that one Ikram and his wife were locked up along with their driver at a police station where no female staff was present and male cops allegedly tortured and harassed them for hours.

“We need justice for our family. They were stopped and not allowed to travel. They were told that they could not proceed because the prime minister was going to travel on this road. The cops shouted at them and hit my brother-in-law and his nose started bleeding,” claimed one Munaza Abbasi.

According to the eyewitnesses, the couple were going to Nathiagali on 24 July along with a driver, two children and a disabled relative. They were stopped by a traffic warden at Nathiagali and were told that Prime Minister Imran Khan was visiting the place.

After their repeated requests to be allowed to proceed, traffic warden Nadeem shouted at them and allegedly hit Ikram, the husband of the woman, in the presence of SHO Muhammad Ali.

This prompted the people to protest against his attitude and exchanged harsh words with the cops. It was learnt that police took their vehicle to Dungagali Police Station and put the couple along with the driver behind bars for hours.

This correspondent contacted Dungagali SHO at around 8pm, he said that he had just come back from the prime minister’s protocol and would try to resolve the issue. However, he registered a case against the couple along with the driver and put them behind bars.

SSP Traffic Qamar Hayat Khan, who was also in Nathiagali at that time, told this correspondent that he would resolve the matter. He said the SHO in question had been directed to resolve the matter and the detained couple would be released.

Qamar Hayat said the wife of Ikram had threatened to lodge a complaint at the highest level and allegedly shouted at them in the police station. According to the FIR available with this correspondent Ikram manhandled the traffic warden on duty which amounted to interference in the administrative affairs. On the other hand, the police refused to entertain the complaint of the accused Ikram against the traffic warden.The relatives and friends of the couple visited the police station at night and handed over a written complaint to SHO against the traffic warden. The two-page complaint stated that the traffic warden used abusive language and injured Ikram as well as his driver in the presence of the SHO. They complained that the warden misbehaved with his wife.