PESHAWAR: A single-member judicial commission probing the stripping and torturing of an Afghan citizen in custody on Friday recorded the statements of two police constables.

Justice Lal Jan Khattak adjourned the panel’s proceedings until today (Saturday) after recording the statements of Rehmat Khan and Mohammad Israr posted to the Tehkal police station.

The government had formed the commission after consulting the Peshawar High Court’s chief justice on June 29.

The commission has so far recorded the statements of 28 people, including torture victim Radiullah alias Amirey.

The FIR of the incident was registered at the Tehkal police station on June 24 after video clips of the police torturing and stripping Radiullah went viral on social media causing a public outcry.

According to spokesperson for the commission Syed Hassan Raza Shah, a consultative meeting was held wherein the commission sought suggestions and recommendations from participants in light of the terms of reference of the Inquiry.

The participants included senior lawyer from Swabi Mian Sher Akber, additional inspector general of police (headquarters) Ishtiaq Marwat, deputy inspector general (headquarters) Salman Chaudhry, DIG (training) Imtiaz Shah and SSP (investigation) Nausher Khan.

The commission’s terms of reference said it might inquire into and determine root causes and facts of the incidents.

The panel will also fix responsibility for the incident, determine institutional lacunas in the system leading to custodial torture, and make recommendations to prevent such incidents in future.

Initially, police constables Zairullah, Naeem and Tauseef were held and named in the FIR over the torture.

Later, SHOs Imran and Sheharyar were also suspended and arrested.

Radiullah was picked up allegedly by the police after a video showing him use abusive language against them surfaced. He was taken into custody, severely tortured and stripped in revenge.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2020