PESHAWAR:
Dozens of people were injured on Friday during clashes between police and demonstrators in the Tehkal district of the provincial capital, as the latter demonstrated against the excesses of the former.
The clashes took place even as the government wrote to the provincial judiciary, asking it to investigate reports that police arrested an Afghan national, stripped and paraded him naked, then tortured him for allegedly abusing police officers in a video.
Several demonstrations and rallies took place across the province on Friday to protest against the torture inflicted on Rafiullah alias Amir of Tehkal.
The largest protests took place 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 from Saddar to the press club, blocking it from all kinds of traffic. Former Awami National Party (ANP) provincial assembly member Alamgir Khan Khalil and members of the youth wing of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) also participated in the protest.
They held banners condemning police brutality and filming a detainee in a compromised position, then releasing the videos. Chanting anti-police slogans, they demanded a judicial investigation into the matter and kept the road closed for almost two hours.
As protesters approached the provincial assembly, they were charged by police in riot gear. At that point, protesters began throwing stones at the police.
To disperse the crowd, the police used tear gas canisters.
The clashes left many demonstrators 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 these protests.
Judicial investigation
Addressing a press briefing at the information cell of the Civil Secretariat on Friday, Advisor to KP Chief Minister on Information Ajmal Wazir said the provincial government had written to the Registrar of the High Court of Peshawar to appoint a judge who will head a judicial commission to investigate. the Tehkal incident under the order of the KP Court of Inquiry.
Wazir said that soon after the video went viral on social media, the provincial government took immediate action by suspending and incarcerating the four police officers involved, including an SHO. Additionally, Operation SSP was stood down.
At the judicial committee, he confirmed that the PHC had been tasked with constituting the investigative body. He added that the agency will be responsible for identifying those responsible for the incident and they will then be tried in accordance with the law.
Noting that the commission has been instructed to complete its investigation within 15 days, Wazir said the government would make the inquiry public.
The councilor, however, urged the public not to malign the entire police department because of the actions of a few.
“The mistakes and wrongdoings of a few personnel should not be blamed on the entire police service,” he said, reiterating the immense sacrifices made by the provincial police in the war against terrorism, in addition to having served on the front lines against the new coronavirus (Covid). -19) pandemic.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th2020.