Relatives of deceased say he offered Rs0.5m, tried to settle dispute. PHOTO: FILE
Rehmatullah was found guilty of killing a man identified as Saleem during a fake police encounter in Chargo Kalay area during Ramazan. An enquiry had been ordered against the SHO when relatives of the deceased attacked Khazana police station and blocked Charsadda Road, obstructing the flow of traffic for several hours. They demanded registration of an FIR against the SHO who had killed Saleem.
Modus operandi
The initial enquiry was conducted by SP Headquarters who visited the area and met the eyewitnesses.
He submitted his report which stated the police encounter took place within the jurisdiction of Paharipura police station and not of Khazana police station which did not lie within Rehmatullah’s jurisdiction.
According to the report, the encounter was fabricated since no arms had been recovered from the deceased as the SHO had claimed and no large quantities of hashish were seized from Saleem.
After the report was submitted, CCPO Mubarak Zeb Khan changed the enquiry officer and asked SP Rural to conduct the enquiry once again. The subsequent report that was submitted made the entire episode even more mysterious and the victim’s relatives said Khan was trying to favour the SHO and attempting to provide him with a safe exit.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, relatives of the deceased said Khazana SHO also forced them to settle the dispute. They said he had also offered Rs0.5 million in compensation to the family of the deceased.
The episode
The SHO had claimed he was patrolling his area when Saleem was asked to stop. However, he shot at Rehmatullah while trying to run away and was killed in the retaliatory fire.
The SHO added Saleem was a professional criminal and was wanted by Khazana police for his involvement in several cases of drug selling.
According to the relatives, Saleem was innocent and probably had 10 grammes of hashish in his pocket which was why he tried to escape.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2016.
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