Pakistan journalist seeks judicial probe after being tortured by PTI lawmakers

CHARSADDA: A Pakistani journalist has demanded a judicial investigation into the torture and humiliation he faced at the hands of leaders of the Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Speaking at the press conference on Friday, Saifullah Jan, member of the governing body of the Charsadda Press Club, said 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, The News International reported.

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

The scribe 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, The News International reported.