Pak journalist seeks judicial probe after being tortured by PTI lawmakers

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is in the limelight again. This time accused of humiliating and torturing a journalist.

Speaking at a press conference, Saifullah Jan, member of the governing body of the Charsadda Press Club, has demanded a judicial investigation into the torture and humiliation he faced at the hands of leaders of PTI.

Jan alleged that the PTI leaders, including Abdullah, his brother Fahim, Zakat Committee chairman Iftikhar and other armed men, forcibly took him to the PTI’s office in Charsadda bazaar, where he was allegedly stripped naked and tortured.

He further said that the leaders had also made a video of him while being naked. “He was let go only after public pressure,” he said.

The journalist also said that though District Police Officer Mohammad Shoaib had ordered the cops at the Sardari Police Station to register the case as per the law but the police used “delaying tactics and did not include the relevant sections of the law in the FIR”.

He pointed that though his leg was fractured due to the torture but the police wrote in the FIR that he has suffered minor injuries.

As per the complaint, five names of the PTI have been registered. However, Saifullah said, the police removed Iftikhar’s name, who is the main accused in the case.

While urging the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court to look into the matter, the journalist said that the police did not press charges against the accused and the local court granted bail to them.