PESHAWAR:
Dozens of people were injured on Friday when police and protesters clashed in the Tehkal area of the provincial capital as the latter demonstrated against the former’s excesses.
The clashes occurred even as the government wrote to the provincial judiciary, asking it to investigate reports of police detaining an Afghan national, stripping and parading him naked, and then torturing him for abusing officers on video.
Several protests and rallies were held across the province on Friday to protest the torture of Rafiullah alias Amir of Tehkal.
The biggest protests were held in the Tehkal area, in front of the Peshawar Press Club and in front of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly building. Protesters filled the road leading from Saddar to the press club, blocking it to all traffic. Former Awami National Party (ANP) provincial assembly member Alamgir Khan Khalil and members of the youth wing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also participated in the protest.
They held signs condemning police brutality and the filming of a detainee in a compromising position and then leaking the videos. Shouting slogans against the police, they demanded a judicial inquiry into the case and kept the road closed for almost two hours.
As protesters approached the provincial assembly, riot police attacked them. Faced with this, the protesters began to throw stones at the police officers.
To disperse the crowd, the police resorted to firing tear gas canisters.
The clashes left dozens of protesters and police officers injured.
Meanwhile, protests against police excesses were also held in Mardan, Swabi, Bajaur, Charsadda, Nowshera, Malakand, Lower and Upper Dir, Swat and other southern districts. Lawyers, social workers, students and local political leaders participated in those protests.
judicial investigation
Addressing a press conference at the Information Cell of the Civil Secretariat on Friday, Advisor to KP Chief Information Minister Ajmal Wazir said that the provincial government has written to the secretary of the Peshawar High Court to appoint a judge. who will head a judicial commission to investigate the Tehkal incident under the KP Court of Inquiry Ordinance.
Wazir said soon after the video went viral on social media, the provincial government took immediate action by suspending and booking the four police officers involved, including a SHO. Additionally, Operation SSP was removed from office.
In the judicial commission, he confirmed that the APS had been requested to form the investigative body. He added that the agency will have the task of identifying those responsible for the incident and that they will then be judged according to the law.
Noting that the commission has been directed to complete its probe within 15 days, Wazir said the government will make the probe public.
The advisor, however, urged the public not to defame the entire police department due to the actions of a few.
“The entire police department should not be blamed for the misconduct and wrongdoing of a few staff members,” he said, reiterating the immense sacrifices made by the provincial police in the war on terrorism, as well as serving in the front line against the new coronavirus (Covid). -19) pandemic.
Published in The Express PAkGazette, June 27th2020.
