UK Police – (Special Correspondent/Web Desk) – The Maaz Malik Slough case has taken a new turn after Thames Valley Police formally apologised for how its officers handled his eviction. Malik, whose legal name is Moaz Ishan, leads the UK wing of the Insaaf Students Federation (ISF), the student body of PTI.
In a written apology, the force admitted its officers made a mistake. The eviction took place at a property on Canada Road in Slough.
Malik had complained that officers were shown papers proving he lived there as a tenant. He said they did not take those papers into account. He also claimed the officers were misled by the property owner.
The police have now accepted this. In the letter, the force said the documents showing his tenant status were not properly considered at the time.
A senior officer wrote that this was a mistake. The letter said officers had not fully understood his situation.
The force also accepted that Malik lost access to his home because of the incident. It admitted that he was distressed because officers did not listen to his concerns or act on them.
The senior officer said the force had fallen short of the standards people expect. These include treating the public with fairness, respect and empathy.
The letter promised that lessons have been learned. It said these will be shared with officers. The mistakes will also be used to improve their understanding and to prevent similar cases.
The force also said sorry for the delay. It admitted that a considerable amount of time had passed since the original incident before the complaint was dealt with.
The apology comes after a long and bitter dispute between Malik and his landlord. The matter became public around six months ago. Both sides made claims against each other about unpaid rent, contract duties and renovation work.
The landlord said Malik had not paid rent for more than a year. He also said Malik had broken the terms of the agreement.
Malik admitted that rent was not paid during that period. However, he said he stopped paying after the landlord began major work inside the property. He said this stopped him from housing tenants of his own and collecting rent from them. In his view, it was the landlord who broke the agreement.
Documents linked to the dispute show that Malik had lived at the property for about five years. Relations between the two sides worsened in the later part of the tenancy.
The matter was also brought before the local council, which looked into it. The landlord then involved the police.
Malik was later removed from the property in an eviction that involved police officers. Video of the incident was filmed and shared widely, and it spread online and reached the media.
The apology does not settle the money dispute between Malik and his landlord. It deals only with how the police acted on the day of the eviction.
For many people following the Maaz Malik Slough story, the letter is an important step. A UK police force has openly said it got something wrong and has promised to learn from it.
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