A Station House Officer in Kotli Satian was roughed up by locals after he tried to execute a court order to exhume the body of an alleged murder victim, said a police source.
According to the police, on Wednesday evening, over two dozen residents of Kotli Satian stormed Kotli Satian Police Station and thrashed SHO Raja Lahrasib for allegedly favouring one party in the murder case, said a police official.
The police said that few years back, a murder case was registered by the SHO on the complaint of the deceased’s family. Later, an accused was arrested and the case is pending in a local court.
The officer, who is close to the development said that court had ordered the exhumation of the body but, the deceased’s family obtained a stay order and began claiming the SHO was favouring the accused.
Protesters blocked the main Kotli Satian road for two hours.
Interestingly, the local police seemed helpless against the enraged protesters. The SHO was shifted to a local hospital, where his condition was stated to be stable.
Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Humayun Bashir Tarar confirmed the incident and said the SHO was badly thrashed by the locals.
He said the murder case was pending in a local court and was based on a dispute between the two families. The official said that he was still gathering information from his subordinates. He said that matter will be probed and the responsible parties will be booked.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th,2014.
