A 30-year-old suspected robber was allegedly tortured to death by Anti-Vehicle Lifting Staff (AVLS) on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Muhammad Sarwar, a resident of Kanganpur. Sarwar’s heirs, after hearing about his death, held a protest in front of the Punjab Assembly (PA), which kept The Mall blocked for an hour. They said that Sarwar was nabbed by AVLS ASI Muhammad Munir for allegedly being involved in a theft at Haji Ismail’s house, a resident of Bakar Mandi area. The deceased’s family claimed that Munir and his colleagues shifted Sarwar to a place located in Huma Block where on Monday he died in police custody owing to severe torture.
They claimed that AVLS officials informed the Allama Iqbal Town Police a few hours after his death after which police shifted the body to the morgue for autopsy. The protesters held DSP Salim Mukhtar, ASI Munir, Muhammad Ismail and four other AVLS officials as responsible for Sarwar’s killing. The protesters disbursed peacefully after Civil Lines SP Umer Saeed and the Allama Iqbal Town DSP reached the PA and ensured the protesters of taking serious action against the responsible people. Niamat, a resident of Hadyara Village, was also tortured to death by Civil Lines CIA officials during investigation. The Lahore Police was not able to arrest the culprits involved in the killing despite the CM’s direction. Iqbal Town Police late on Monday night registered a case of murder, kidnapping and misuse of powers against 12 people, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) of the AVLS for Sarwar’s murder.
Iqbal Town Station House Officer (SHO) Qamar Abbas said police had registered first information report number 166/12 on the complaint of Sarwar’s brother Muhammad Ishfaq against AVLS DSP Saleem Mukhtar, ASI Muneer, Constables Nasrullah and Azam, Haji Ismail, his brother Sher Muhammad and their two gunmen and four unknown persons for misuse of authority, kidnapping and killing Sarwar during custody.
He said that the case had been registered under sections 302/34, 365/109 and 156/155 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, however no arrests had been made yet.
