MUZAFFARABAD: A station house officer (SHO) accused of sexually harassing a British-Kashmiri woman was arrested in Sudhnoti district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday by an investigation team.

The police swung into action against Inspector Chaudhry Imran Ahmed, the SHO of Thothal in Mirpur, on Tuesday after Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rana Abdul Jabbar shared an audio recording secretly made by the victim during a ride with the SHOwith DIG Mirpur Dr Liaqat Ali and SSP Khawar Ali Shaukat.

The IGP had received the clip from a UK-based Kashmiri expatriate.

On the IGP`s instructions, Mirpur police located the victim and recorded her statement, based on which an FIR was registered against the SHO under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (insulting modesty of a woman) of the Azad Penal Code (APC), along with Section 18 of the Offence of Zina (Enforcement of Hudood) Ordinance, 1979, commonly referred to as the ZHA.

Simultaneously, the SHO was suspended from service, and a departmental inquiry was launched against him. Staff Correspondent