Top Sukkur cops held responsible for murder of Faisalabad lawyer

Two senior Sukkur police officers have been held responsible for the death in custody of a lawyer belonging to Faisalabad, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Sunday.

Lawyer Ijaz Arayan was killed in a Sukkur police private detention centre in August 2020 and later his body thrown into the Bhong area of Sadiqabad.

In an inquiry report prepared by DIG Naeem Shaikh, the Sindh police have confirmed the direct involvement of SSP Sukkur Irfan Samon, DSP Masood Rasool Mahar and others in the murder of the Faisalabad lawyer and recommended strict legal and departmental action against them.

After the inquiry report, the Sindh police served a show-cause notice on SSP Samon and recommended sending references against them to Sindh Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) and the federal government’s Establishment Division.

DIG Naeem Shaikh submitted the inquiry report to IGP Sindh Mushtaq Mahar.

https://www.facebook.com/24NewsHD.tv/videos/671839360174377/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos

According to the inquiry report, the advocate from Faisalabad had a property dispute with his stepmother in Faisalabad and subsequently shifted to Sukkur. The lawyer soon became friends with an influential person of the district who had a close relationship with SSP Irfan Samon and other police officials.

Using his police contacts, the influential person allegedly managed to get registered a fake case of jewellery theft against the lawyer at Police Station Panu Aqil Cantonment to pressurise him for settling the property dispute in favour of his stepmother.

SSP Sukkur Irfan Samon directed a team of Sukkur Police on August 17, 2019 which picked the lawyer from Faisalabad and detained him illegally at a private torture cell in Panu Aqil. “The police inquiry report establishes that the lawyer subsequently died of torture in that private cell. The suspected police officers then dumped his body at Bhong, Sadiqabad.”

DIG Naeem Shaikh established through the report that all the actions, including “arresting lawyer from Faisalabad, his illegal detention, torturing him to death, and throwing away his body outside the provincial boundary of Sindh were in knowledge of SSP Irfan Samon and DSP Masood Mahar who are directly or indirectly responsible for the entire gruesome episode.” The police report recommended strict action against the responsible persons.