Alleged killer remanded into SIU custody

The man is accused of murdering two police officials.

KARACHI: A man accused of murdering two police officials was remanded into the custody of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) by Justice Maqbool Baqar in his capacity as administrative judge (AJ) of the anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) for Karachi division on Thursday.

Shakir alias Raffeh, accused of killing DSP Nawaz Ranjha and SHO and Inspector Nasirul Hasan, was arrested on January 4 from the Jinnah Terminal at the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi. He was about to board a Dubai-bound flight but was arrested by the police team after him.

Two co-accused, Abu Irfan and Ishtiaq alias Policewallah, are already in the police’s custody. Meanwhile, raids are being carried out to arrest the other four accomplices of Shakir, stated the remand request submitted to the judge.

The AJ asked the accused whether he was being subjected to torture and since no complaint of torture was made by him, the AJ allowed the remand request and Raffeh was handed into physical custody of the Investigating Officer till January 16. DSP Nawaz Ranjha was killed in August, 2010 while he was returning home from duty while SHO Nasirul Hasan was killed in an ambush by unidentified gunmen while going to his police station.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2011.