LAHORE - A video-clip showing brutal police torture on a young man in the lockup of Lytton Road police went viral Tuesday. Police sources revealed that the suspect was arrested on charges of doing wheelie.
They say the suspect was captured when he was performing stunts. The 38-second mobile phone clip shows policemen brutally torturing a man inside the lockup. The victim could be heard screaming loud.
Two policemen captured the hands and feet of the suspect by laying him on the ground with face downward when the third strikes him on the back repeatedly with a leather-made Chittar. The station house officer could be seen standing alongside the policemen.
The latest incident of brutal police torture comes barely one day after Punjab Police Inspector General Arif Nawaz Khan chaired a meeting at the central police office and urged the field officers to shun violence and behave politely with citizens at police stations.
The police use of brutal torture methods continues in Lahore despite stern warning by the provincial government. Last week, Lahore DIG (Operations) Ashfaq Khan paid ‘surprise’ visits to different police stations to check police working. His visits appeared to be just photo sessions since the police are applying ruthless torture methods on the suspects arrested in petty crime cases.
38-second clip exposes claims of changed policing
When contacted, Lahore DIG Ashfaq Khan was not available for his comments. Social media users reacted angrily to the latest police-torture incident, demanding Punjab chief minister Uzman Buzdar to take notice of the police highhandedness and fulfill the promise of police reforms.
City police on Sunday arrested 14 motorcyclists after they clashed with patrol police in Lahore’s Sanda area. The police also registered a criminal case against the youngsters under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.
A police spokesman claimed that the boys tortured an official of the Dolphin Police Squad during the clash. He went on to say that the boys were performing stunts on the back-wheel of their motorcycle when the Dolphin police force tried to stop them for violating the ban on one-wheeling. The arrested motorcyclists were shifted to the lockup.
On the other hand, a relative of one of the suspects told The Nation by phone that the police forced their entry into his shop and tortured the employees. He said Dolphins police officials also thrashed him when he tried to stop them.