A police inquiry on Saturday found the SP City and the Bhati Gate station house officer (SHO) guilty of illegally detaining and torturing Ghulam Murtaza, the husband of a woman who died along with her daughter after they fell into an open sewer near Data Darbar, Lahore, on Thursday.

The death of a woman and her young daughter has triggered serious allegations of police torture and misconduct, prompting the suspension of the Bhati Gate SHO and a high-level inquiry ordered by senior officials.

The inquiry, conducted by an internal accountability committee headed by Additional Inspector General Imran Mahmood and comprising DIG Nasir Aziz Work and Imran Kishor, concluded that SP City Bilal and SHO Bhati Gate Zain mishandled the case and violated procedure. The committee has recommended departmental action against both officers.

According to official sources, the two officers admitted during the inquiry that they took Ghulam Murtaza into custody and subjected him to physical abuse. They claimed they acted on instructions from senior officers after rescue and other agencies suggested that the woman’s drowning at the site appeared “impossible,” raising suspicion.

The officers told the committee they brought Ghulam Murtaza to Bhati Gate police station, where he was assaulted.

They also admitted to calling the deceased woman’s father and detaining a relative, Tanveer, at the station. The inquiry team obtained CCTV footage from the SHO’s office to corroborate events.

The committee also travelled to Shorkot to record Ghulam Murtaza’s statement. He told investigators that police officers pressured him to confess to killing his wife and attempted to force him to accept responsibility for the incident.

Separately, Ghulam Murtaza has released a video showing visible marks of alleged torture on his body. He reiterated claims that police beat him with belts and sticks, confiscated his mobile phone, and detained his cousin.

He said officers dismissed his request to verify facts through Safe City cameras and instead sought to extract a confession.