‘Extrajudicial’ killing: Khairpur Police claim to have killed ‘notorious criminal’ in encounter

Encounter victim was a resident engineer, says family

SUKKUR: Khairpur Police claim to have killed a notorious criminal in an encounter at Kumb-Jaskani link road near Kumb town in Khairpur district. The suspect was wanted by the police in various criminal cases, said the officials.

The encounter took plan when the police received a tip-off about the presence of the suspect, identified as Irshad Ali Gopang, and his accomplices near Kumb. A large contingent of police personnel, led by Thari Mir Wah SP Sajid Khokhar and Khairpur city SP Masood Bangash raided and cordoned off the area. Police claimed that the suspects opened fire at them as they reached the site. In the retaliatory fire, Irshad was killed on the spot while his accomplices managed to escape. One of the police constables, Zulfiqar Solangi, was injured in the gunfire and was shifted to Civil Hospital, Khairpur, for treatment.

The police claims were, however, rebutted by local journalists, who said that the deceased, Irshad, was not a criminal; rather, he was an employee of a private consulting firm and was currently based in Gwadar. They said that Irshad had recently come to Khairpur to visit his family and had gone for Maghrib prayers to the imambargah, from where he was arrested by the police and later killed in a fake encounter.

Irshad’s elder brother, Aijaz Ali Gopang, verified the journalists’ claims. He believed Irshad was targeted by the police due to his political affiliations with the Pakistan Muslim League - Functional (PML-F). The tussle had started after the general elections in May 2013, when the PML-F supporters had organised a rally. Aijaz claimed that as the rally reached Kumb town, several supporters of the Pakistan Peoples Party had opened fire on them. Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident. Later, an FIR was registered against the PML-F supporters, including the deaceased, Irshad.

Aijaz added that his brother was a resident engineer at Cameos Consultants and was currently working on the Sawar Kaur Dam project in Gwadar. He had recently come to Khairpur to visit his family. The Cameos Consultants office in Quetta confirmed that Irshad Ali Gopang had been working with the company since 2006 when he started his career as site supervisor in Sibi.

Khairpur SSP Nasir Aftab and Thari Mir Wah SP Sajjid Khokhar were unavailable for comments, despite repeated attempts to contact them. Khairpur city SP Masood Bangash, however, told The Express Tribune that Irshad Ali Gopang was a criminal and was wanted to the police in seven criminal cases, including three under the anti-terrorism act.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2015.