Ex-nazim ‘tortured to death’ by police: PML-F procession thwarted
RAHIM YAR KHAN, March 29: A former union council nazim, arrested by police in a crackdown on Wednesday night to thwart a public meeting of former district nazim and Punjab PML-Functional president Makhdoom Ahmad Mahmood, was found dead on Thursday.
While the initial autopsy report said the heart attack was the cause of Fakhar Mahmood Akbar Kanjoo’s death, the relatives and friends of the deceased called it a case of police torture and state terrorism.
Later in the evening, another man, identified as Azam, was reportedly killed when police resorted to severe baton charge and shelling to disperse a crowd
that wanted to hold a meeting in Jamaldinwali, the venue of the public meeting 20km from here. Police however did not confirm the death.
To protest the killings, people gathered outside the offices of district nazim and DCO here and raised slogans against police and the government. They threw stones on the offices and demanded registration of a case against the people responsible for the death of Mr Kanjoo. They also raised slogans against the chief minister.
Meanwhile, Kanjoo’s relatives claimed that the police had tortured him to death and threw his body in the Takya Lal Fakir graveyard and then brought it to Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital declaring it unidentified and unclaimed.
They called a local newspaper’s photographer to take photographs of the body. The photographer identified the body as that of Mr Kanjoo and the news spread in the city and people gathered in hospital.
According to the post-mortem report, Mr Kanjoo died of heart attack. CMO Dr Bilal conducted the post mortem. The family and the people rejected the findings as manipulated. The family refused to receive the body and demanded a fresh board to conduct autopsy. The hospital administration agreed to their demand after negotiations with lawyers and the family members.
When contacted, DHO Dr Shahid Salim said a board comprising him, acting MS Dr Abdul Wahid, surgeon Dr Anwar, district medicolegal officer Dr Masood Jahangir conducted autopsy.
He said a torture mark was found on the neck. He said final findings would be released after the receipt of chemical analysis report.
DPO Sultan Ahmad Chaudhry could not be contacted despite repeated attempts as he had turned off his mobile phone.
Leaders of different political parties, including PPP MPA Javed Akbar Dhiloon, Javed Warraich, PML-N district president Khalid Shaheen, MMA’s Hafiz Akbar, Maulana Abdul Rauf Rabbani, district bar president Abdul Mannan Bhatti and other lawyers also reached the hospital and termed the death of Mr Kanjoo a state terrorism.
It may be noted that former district nazim Syed Ahmad Mahmood was to address a public gathering in his native town Jamaldinwali after joining the PML-F as the Punjab president and district police was ordered by the high ups to thwart it. On Wednesday night, police arrested about 20 nazims who supported Mr Mahmood.
According to the family, Fakhar Kanjoo was arrested at around midnight. They said they visited every police station in the city but could not find him.
A handout issued by the district administration said some people wanted to take out a procession in Jamaldinwali in violation of section 144. “Police resorted to mild baton charge and teargas shelling to disperse protesters and arrested 32 of them,” it said.There was complete calm in the town, it claimed.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/30/2007
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