LARKANA: A young boy was found handcuffed and kept in unlawful confinement on the premises of the Dari police station of Larkana when a civil judge conducted a raid to recover a man, detained by the SHO concerned allegedly to settle an old score.

According to a source, both the persons were found detained at the SHO’s residential quarter, located on the premises of the police station.

The raid was conducted by civil judge and third judicial magistrate Zafarullah Jakhrani in compliance with an order of Larkana’s district and sessions judge.

The order was issued on an application filed by Mashooq Kharos, a resident of Baitul Mal Colony, through his lawyer Abid Abro under Section 491 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

‘Illegally detained’ suspect also recovered

The applicant stated that his brother, Ashiq Kharos, had been kept in illegal confinement by SHO Fida Hussain Langah for 14 days.

The applicant’s lawyer, Abid Abro, informed the court that Ashiq Kharos was picked up by Dari police in a raid on his house and kept in unlawful confinement. He alleged that the SHO’s act was aimed at settling an old score with the victim.

The sessions judge appointed Judicial Magistrate Zafarullah Jakhrani as the raid commissioner and ordered him to pay a surprise visit to the police station and recover Ashiq Kharos if he was found detained there.

The JM complied with the order and found Ashiq Kharos, as well as the young boy, Imran Brohi, handcuffed and kept in a lock-up on the premises of the police station, which also houses the SHO’s residential quarter.

The raid commissioner ordered SHO Fida Hussain Langah to appear before the district and sessions judge Larkana on Wednesday (Aug 15) along with the relevant record pertaining to detention of both persons.

The raid commissioner also checked the station’s diary and asked the duty officer to produce record of the two persons’ arrest. The officer failed to produce any document regarding the boy’s detention but showed an entry pertaining to arrest of Ashiq Kharos in some cases registered against him. He claimed that Kharos was absconding in the cases.

The petitioner’s lawyer alleged that Ashiq Kharos was arrested at the behest of a policeman, currently posted at the Rehmatpur police station, only to get an old case settled with him.

The JM ordered immediate release of Imran Brohi while Ashiq Kharos was produced in the court of fourth judicial magistrate Imtiaz Khilji, who remanded him in jail custody.

Speaking to this reporter, SSP Shabbir Sethar said that “the boy was caught red-handed while trying to lift a motorbike”.

“City ASP Babar Jawed Joya has, however, been entrusted to look into the boy’s detention,” he said, and added that anyone found guilty in this regard would be dealt with in accordance with law.

Master Imran, who lives near Bambar Wah (irrigation channel), told local reporters while passing through the city’s outskirts that the SHO had caught and kept accusing him of being involved in theft cases.

He said policemen beat him up and threatened to shoot him in the knees if he kept denying the charge.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2018