Pakistan: In police custody: Ahmadi school teacher allegedly tortured to death

Master Abdul Qudoos, a well known Ahmadi school teacher was allegedly tortured to death while in police custody in the Rabwah city of Punjab on Friday. The Chenab Nagar Police has registered a case against two accused police officials. Master Abdul Qudoos Ahmad, 43, was taken into custody by the police in the first week of February for questioning in the murder case of Muhammad Yousuf, a stamp-paper seller from Nusrat Abad. He was allegedly tortured ruthlessly during the interrogation, causing severe internal injuries. “When his body could not take further torture, his relatives were blackmailed and he was released. He was admitted to a local hospital where doctors tried to save his life, but Qudoos died due to several injuries and excessive loss of blood,” Abdul Qudoos’s brother-in-law Imtiaz Ahmed said. SHO Khadim Hussain of the Chenab Nagar Police Station told The Express Tribune that on the complaint of Imtiaz Ahmad, a case had been registered against the two police sub inspectors, Sujhat Ali and Manazar Ali under sections 302, 148, 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. He, however, maintains that the accused was picked up on March 24 and was released two days later as the police was convinced of his innocence. Hussain says a fatal disease could be the possible cause of death. Hussain said the dead body was sent for postmortem examination, adding that if the autopsy proved the cause of death to be torture, action against the accused will be taken accordingly. The spokesperson of Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan, Saleemud Din condemned the incident, terming it ‘callous and inhuman’. “The way Master Abdul Qudoos was tortured and brutalised is the lowest form of humanity. Police should investigate the murder case and whoever is involved should be brought to justice. The police have no right to pick up any person and subject them to extra-judicial torture,” Din said. Saleemud Din alleged that the real reason for the teacher’s arrest was to taint the reputation of the local Ahmadiyya administration of Rabwah. “Master Abdul Qudoos was the President of Jamaat-e-Ahmediyya’s local chapter and he was arrested to defame the administration.” Saleemud Din demanded the constitution of a high-powered commission to investigate the case. He also urged the government, as well as human rights organisations to take notice of the incident. “The culprits behind the murder should be brought to justice so people can have faith in the police department,” Din said.