PESHAWAR: Policemen allegedly manhandled a councillor and male members of his family, detained them in lockup for hours over an argument during a door-todoor search operation against suspected terrorists in the wee hours here on Friday.

The incident took place in the limits of Paharipura police station at around 3am.

The PTl councillor was identified as Malik Shah Nawaz, a member of PaharipuraKhalsa-1 neighbourhood council.

Essa Malik, the son of Mr Nawaz, talking to Dawn claimed that they were asleep when police arrived at their hujra. He said the cops went from room to room, smashing and kicking doors.

He said the police also rounded up five male members of the family.

The complainant said when his father asked the cops to send women personnel inside his room for checking, the concerned SHO Taimur Khan got infuriated.

He said the SHO along with other personnel allegedly beat up the family members, including his father, and hauled them to the police station.

He said they were kept at the police lockup till noon and were released when media got the whiff of the incident and the area people protested outside the police station.

PTl lawmaker Fazl Elahi and district council member Zahid Nadeem also joined the protest.

Later, SSP (operations) Javed Iqbal ordered the suspension of SHO Pahairpura and an inquiry into the incident.