Police are increasingly becoming imposing in Swat valley, as they tortured a lawyer at Khwaza Khela on Thursday and protests over the incident had hardly ended when another case of police torture came to the forefront on Friday. Police on Friday tortured a staff member of the Saidu Sharif Board on Friday. A row over parking led the police to attack the BISE Swat office and molest its staff on duty. Moreover, the police even did not hesitate to destroy the question papers in the Board Secrecy Section that were intended for the ongoing Intermediate examinations. The police, however, gave a different version of the incident.
According to the police, they intervened after receiving reports of their fellow police being held illegally inside the board building. On the other hand, the board staff said that after an exchange of hot words between the police and them over car parking, the SHO of Rahimabad broke into the building and tortured them. The police also sealed the building. However, after successful negotiations between the DSP Headquarters and the Board chairman, both parties reconciled amicably. As a result, no FIR was lodged. The aggravated staff of the board, however, was not happy with the reconciliation and hooted and protested against the chairman. Swat Private School Management Association President Ziauddin Yousafzai condemned the excesses on the part of the police and said this was injustice because police tortured teaching staff. He said the police action was indeed shameful. The Swat Bar Association also announced two-day strike as a condemnation of the violence over a fellow lawyer at Khwazakhela police station the other day.
