Abrar’s family observes black day as nation celebrates

The young man was shot dead by CTD officials, who mistook him for a criminal, on July 10

KARACHI: While the rest of the country celebrated Pakistan's 70th Independence Day, one family in Karachi observed black day.

The house of 28-year-old Muhammad Abrar, who was shot dead on the night of July 10 by Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials, once used to fly the national flag. This Sunday, however, a black flag was hung from its window. The family had put it up to mourn the death of their beloved son.



Abrar was killed when the policemen, who mistook his mobile phone rescue bid as a kidnapping attempt, opened fire on a car from which he was hanging in Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society. He had reached an agreement to sell his mobile phone to Dil Nawaz after placing an advertisement on a website. The two had decided upon a location in Saddar to complete the transaction.

"In our home, Abrar was only the person who decorated the house with flags on Independence Day," his elderly father, Azam Khan, told The Express Tribune. "He, along with his friends, used to decorate the entire street. But Abrar is no more with us on this Independence Day."

Why the black flag?

"While I was returning after visiting Abrar's grave in the morning, I saw that people were celebrating Independence Day," he shared. "Then, I decided to put a black flag on my house instead of a green and white one," said Khan. "Why we would celebrate Independence Day in a country where my young son was killed brutally and his assassins remained safe? Nobody is here to provide us justice."

'Won't accept a mountain of gold'

The elderly father went on to share that the police indirectly offered them compensation but the family was not willing to accept it. "I will not accept even if they give me a mountain of gold," he warned. "I just want them to investigate the case transparently."

The family accused the authorities of using delaying tactics in Abrar's case. "Why did they [police] not submit a charge sheet against the policemen to help the court in making its judgment in the case?" asked Abrar's elder brother, Waqar. "It seems that they want us to withdraw the case. But we will never do that," he said fiercely.

All four cops dismissed

CTD incharge Raja Omar Khattab refuted the allegations levelled by the family against the police, particularly the CTD. "I only met his father personally once in the court," he said. "I condoled with him over his young's son death," he claimed. "All the four cops have already been dismissed from service and they are in jail," Khattab assured.



He said that the arrested cops belong to lower-middle class families and their families are also suffering because of their arrests. He claimed that no one from his department asked Abrar's family to withdraw the case, vowing that the criminals involved in the shooting will be brought to justice.

A few days longer

Police officials investigating the case are likely to submit a charge sheet in a couple of days. "Our investigation is almost complete," explained an investigating officer, inspector Muhammad Fareed. "We will submit a final charge sheet in a couple of days. It is very painful for me, too, that the family does not trust me despite the fact that I am doing my job sincerely. They should transfer the case if they really don't have trust in me," he lamented. The officer added that all the four accused policemen have been charged over the murder and there will be no lenience awarded to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2016.