Lotkoh police arrest six underage boys in petty case

CHITRAL: Police in Lotkoh have been accused of misusing its powers and registering a criminal case under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against nine people, including six underage boys, over a petty issue.  

The Lotkoh police arrested the nine people, including the six underage boys, and put them in the lock-up violating the Juvenile Justice System. The children were later freed while the three adults were sent to jail.  

Sources told ChitralToday that a man went to a musical gathering at a wedding ceremony and started pushing and shoving people. Some youngsters objected and beat the man, who the locals said was drunk.

The man then approached the police station and got registered a case against the nine people, including the six children.

The locals said instead of resolving the petty issue through elders and notables of the village or through the reconciliation and jirga system, the man used his connection with the SHO of the police station and got the nine people, including the six juveniles, booked under section 506 (intimidation), 341 (wrongfully restraining any person), 147 (rioting), 148 (prevent consequences of an unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons likely to cause death), 149 (unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapons likely to cause death) and 427 (mischief).

According to the First Information Report (FIR) available with ChitralToday, Altaf Hussain, son of Rehmat Hussain of Murdan, reported to police that he had gone to a wedding ceremony at the house of one of his relatives at Shagram where two persons had a brawl. He claimed that he intervened and got the matter resolved.

Later, the supporters of one of the persons intercepted and attacked him when he was going home on a bike. Altaf said he ran to safety and called his cousin who reached there and was taking him home in his vehicle when the nine people again intercepted him. The complainant claimed that they attacked him and broke the windowpanes of the vehicle. He also claimed that he suffered injuries to his nose and shoulders.

SHO of the police station could not be contacted for comments.