Extrajudicial Killing: Cops granted bail in fake encounter case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday granted interim pre-arrest bail to three policemen accused of killing a man extrajudicially after labelling him a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militant. A single bench, headed by Justice Abdul Rasool Memon, ordered Inspector Ishaq Lashari, Sacchal SHO Ismail Lashari and Shoaib Sheikh to furnish surety worth Rs20,000 each and surrender before the trial court within 10 days. The complainant, Anwar Ali Soomro, had alleged in an FIR that Ismail had arrested his son, Anees Soomro, on June 12, 2014, demanding Rs500,000 for his release. When the family failed to pay, Ismail allegedly killed Anees in a fake encounter. The Supreme Court had recently ordered the Karachi police chief to suspend the officials facing serious criminal allegations until the investigation was completed. The suspended officials had recently fled from the courtroom after their bail pleas were rejected.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.