KARACHI:
Three assistant sub-inspectors of the Special Investigation Unit and four constables were suspended on Friday in connection with the death of a youth in custody, apparently due to torture.
According to deceased Irfan’s relatives, he was visiting from Bahawalpur and on Wednesday morning, SIU officials arrested him and his three friends while they were filming videos during breakfast. Their families were unable to contact them after SIU officials allegedly confiscated their cell phones.
The family staged a protest outside the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) center in Saddar, accusing the police of being responsible for Irfan’s death.
Read: Another citizen dies under police torture
According to Saddar Police Station SHO Chaudhry Zahid, police were alerted by Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center (JPMC) about an unidentified body brought in. When Zahid’s team arrived at the JPMC, they found SIU staff present there as well as a magistrate. The victim’s family had not yet contacted police and SIU Saddar was on the case, Zahid said.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Sheikh said further investigation was underway.
Not a first
Numerous complaints have been filed regarding deaths in custody attributable to SIU police, who have also been accused of kidnapping civilians and releasing them after collecting a ransom.
Last year, the SIU was accused of torturing a citizen to death in custody, abandoning his body near his home and fleeing. An FIR was lodged against an unidentified group of police officers at Manghopir police station in this regard.
CIA DIG said The Express PK Press Club that the SIU officials involved in this matter have been arrested.
According to police sources, the SIU party illegally arrested a citizen named Qayamuddin in Manghopir area on January 12, 2024. The man was handcuffed while SIU officials searched his brother Nizammuddin’s house in Altaf Nagar.
Later, the SIU team released Qayyamuddin warning him not to inform anyone about his detention and the subsequent raid.
SIU officials then took Nizam away. His body was discovered near his home.
