FAISALABAD: 13 policemen including three SHOs have been summoned for torturing citizens by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) which has observed more than 1,400 cases of police torture, local media reports have revealed.
Their cases have been forwarded to the Regional Police Officer Ghulam Mahmood Dogar with a direction to ensure their appearance before the commission’s team which would visit Faisalabad to record their statements.
A three-member committee of the commission comprising Muhammad Shafiq, Syed Khalil Ali and Razaur Rehman will record the statements of the policemen on August 7.
A letter sent to the RPO by the commission chairman retired Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan said the testimonies of some of the victims were recorded on May 28 last in Circuit House, Faisalabad. During the testimonies, the names of police officials involved in torture were shared with the RPO.
The letter said the extent of force used by the Faisalabad police during the past decade was illustrated by the medico-legal certificates available with the commission.
The 1,424 police torture cases were reported from 2006 to 2018. Besides, the commission also had complaints regarding harassment of Dr Khurram Sohail Raja who conducted dozens of medical examination of police torture victims.
A police officer requesting anonymity said the issue of torture in custody could not be bridled without equipping the police department with modern gadgets that could help policemen in investigations. He said owing to the political and public pressure, the police had to employ “third-degree torture” to extract information. He admitted that innocent people had been made to suffer in many cases in the past.
