Police brutality: SHO, SIO charged with murder over custodial death after post mortem

KARACHI: Police officers in whose custody a detainee in Sohrab Goth Police Station died earlier this week have been charged on Saturday with murder following court orders, ARY News reported.

An FIR has been lodged against the Station House Officer and Senior Investigation Officer following the custodial death on the complaint by a bereaved relative of Rehmat Khan.

It is alleged that Khan died of torture in police custody as the bereaved family cited post mortem report ordered by the local court.

The court said a case may be lodged against the alleged if post mortem report alludes to police brutality and thus following the outcome of the report, Court ordered SHO and SIO be charged with the murder of Khan.

Police earlier claimed of Khan’s custodial death that he had died of a heart attack.

It is pertinent to note that Khan had reportedly been arrested by police over a land controversy and he died Nov 10, in what the aggrieved family members claimed was police brutality.

The family of the deceased told media despite the Court orders for the victim’s release, the Sohrab Goth Police kept him in extra-judicial custody and demanded a bribe of Rs100,000 to comply.

Khan was arrested by local police five days before he died in custody over a land controversy but when his family procured release orders from the relevant court, police impeded the process and allegedly demanded bribe from the family.

The grieving family claimed they paid police Rs15,000 to expedite the release already sanctioned by courts but to no avail.

The family said when they went to the police station today to meet their arrested relative, police initially lied about his court hearing, and after hours of beating around the bush and evading, they informed them about his passing.