LAHORE: The medical reports of Awami Raj Party MNA Jamshed Ahmed Dasti submitted before the Lahore High court (LHC) on Saturday revealed that no marks of violence on the body of the MNA was found during his medical examination.
The judges of the anti-terrorism courts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha submitted their separate reports which denied the allegations of torture as claimed by the MNA who is behind the bars in a water theft case.
It was stated in a report that there was no evidence of rats and scorpions presence in the Dasti’s cell. “He was provided mats in the cell and was not given ‘B class’ in jail,” the report said.
The report added that 40 people, including Dasti’s mother, sister and relatives met him in the prison.
The other report stated that Dasti was examined by doctors from Dera Ghazi Khan and Sargodha and there was no evidence of violence on his body.
Dasti, who was kept at the Central Jail of Dera Ghazi Khan, was moved to the Sargodha district Jail on June 28.
The reports were submitted on the order of LHC Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah who on June 29 took notice after a video released on the media.
In the video, a seemingly agitated Dasti, who was remanded for six days to police custody on June 23, alleged that he was being tortured and starved by police.
He had claimed that he was beaten up by the police, and that rats and scorpions were present in his cell.
The LHC chief justice had directed two lower courts judges to investigate whether Dasti was subjected to torture during the custody and the jail authorities provided him facilities as entitled to a lawmaker. He had directed them to check whether the MNA filed any complaint before the court concerned regarding the alleged torture and inhuman treatment meted out to him in the jail.
Earlier, the Karamdad Qureshi police had arrested Dasti and registered a case against him under sections 353, 430, 148, 149 and 186 of the Pakistan Penal Code on an application by the Kot Addu irrigation sub-division officer.
Irrigation Executive Engineer Mehr Riaz Akhtar said that Dasti had forcibly released the water into Dinga Canal which was closed under a rotational programme because of the shortage of water in Muzaffargarh Canal.
Published in Daily Times, July 2nd, 2017.