SUDHANOTI (Kashmir English): Azad Kashmir Police has arrested accused Imran Ahmed, Station House Officer (SHO) Thothal, Mirpur in case pertaining to harassment of British-Kashmiri woman from Palandri Tehsil of Sudhanoti district.
According to the AJK Police spokesperson, “an investigation team headed by Sajjad Hussain, Deputy Inspector General of Police Region Poonch, detained the wanted accused Imran Ahmed in case number 25/2025 from Palandri.”
Imran’s arrest was carried out in a week-old case filed by Farkhunda Rehman, a British-Kashmiri national, which alleged that Station House Officer (SHO) Thothal Imran Ahmed harassed her on gunpoint, which she secretly recorded on her mobile phone. On her complaint, the case number was registered with sections APC-342, 506, 509, and ZHA-18.
The woman sought help from the British Embassy regarding a property case, which led to her contact with Commissioner Mirpur, who advised her to approach the SHO of the concerned police station. As she contacted SHO Thothal, he called the woman for a meeting and instead of taking her to the police station, he took her to a private place forcefully.
According to the woman, the SHO closed the door of a room and urged the woman to befriend, remove her hijab, and engage in indecent acts. The woman informed the Mirpur Commissioner about the situation, after which the police started an investigation into the incident.
Taking the action, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mirpur Khawar Ali Shaukat on Tuesday constituted a four-member inquiry committee to conduct a transparent investigation into the harassment case. As per the order, the committee will submit its progress report on the inquiry within seven days.
It is worth mentioning that the victim Farkhunda Rehman, while holding a press conference at the Kashmir Press Club in Mirpur, said that the police were trying to save the police officer and SSP Khawar Ali Shaukat has deliberately included weak provisions in this case.
She rejected the four-member inquiry committee formed by SSP Mirpur and demanded that SHO Imran should be arrested immediately and a judicial inquiry be conducted by a High Court judge into this incident.
Rehman further alleged that the police have been putting pressure on me to save their colleague. “Inspector Mehboob, posted in Anti-Corruption, has pressured me to forgive the accused SHO Thothal Chaudhry.”
