Man goes missing from ‘police custody’

Islamabad – The family of one Muhammad Ikhlaq is running from pillar to post for his whereabouts since Margalla police allegedly picked him from Karachi Company Markaz on April 12.
Since then the family has no clue of his whereabouts with the police simply denying picking him but the lockup inmates confirming before the court bailiff that he was moved to somewhere else in the morning of the day the bailiff raided the Margalla police station.
According to details, one Arshad Mahmood approached SSP Islamabad on April 20 with a complaint that Margalla police on April 12 picked Ikhlaq up from Karachi Company and later shifted him to police lockup. He said that he visited the police station on April 14 and found Ikhlaq with severe injuries in the police lockup though he was not nominated in any case until then. He further stated that ASI Asim Zaidi asked him to go and Ikhlaq would reach home by the evening. Very next day, Asim Zaidi told him that Sub-Inspector Liaqat Ali is investigating Ikhlaq and that he had nothing to do with him.
On April 18, a court bailiff raided the police station lockup but did not find Ikhlaq over there neither his record was found in daily diary of the police station.
However, the lockup inmates stated before the bailiff that Ikhlaq was moved somewhere else in the morning.
Arshad told the SSP that the family was worried over the whereabouts of Ikhlaq. They believed that police officials had killed him but did not hand over his dead body. Arshad Mahmood also requested the SSP to register a case against the police officials responsible for what he believed was a murder. However, neither any case was registered against the accused nor the missing person was recovered.
When contacted, SI Liaqat Ali told this scribe that he neither picked Ikhlaq nor he knows anything about his whereabouts. He termed the statement of Ikhlaq’s family mere allegations. He feigned total ignorance of the whole story, adding he never met Ikhlaq.

Category: Illegal detention