Officer arrested for involvement in fellow policeman’s killing

Accused policeman's missing weapon was used by suspects in murder

KARACHI: The mystery behind the killing of a police constable has almost been solved after the police arrested on Saturday the deceased policeman's senior for his alleged involvement in the murder.

The police constable, Rafiq, was killed by two suspected criminals who managed to escape from police custody by shooting him and critically injuring another policeman, Daim, on Korangi EBM Causeway within the limits of the Korangi Industrial Area police station on Friday evening. The deceased policeman, along with two other colleagues, was returning from an anti-terrorism court in a private car along with the suspects, after acquiring their remand. The suspects, identified as Imtiaz Rind and Khalid alias Bengali, had used a stolen official weapon to kill Rafiq.



Korangi police station investigation officer (SIO) Wasey Jhokio, who was driving the car when the incident took place, was the only policeman who was not injured in the attack. Interestingly, the SIO had lost his official pistol earlier that same day while Rafiq only had an official sub-machinegun at the time when the suspects were being transported back to the police station from the court.

The investigators have initiated inquiry against SIO Jhokio over his alleged involvement in the case as he told the police and media in his initial statement that armed motorcyclists had attacked their car and helped their comrades in fleeing before attacking the cops over offering resistance. "It has now been cleared that no one attacked the car," Korangi DSP Ghulam Nabi Wago told The Express Tribune. He added that the two suspects opened fired at Rafiq using the SIO's missing pistol and escaped after snatching a motorcycle from someone on the road.

The officer said that the initial investigation suggests that the SIO was also involved in the incident and, therefore, the police have also registered a case against him. A separate case was also registered against the fleeing suspects under the sections of murder, attempt to murder and Anti-Terrorism Act, he added. The accused SIO was arrested formally after registering a case against him and was taken away by the Rangers for interrogation.



Meanwhile, Rafiq's funeral prayers were offered at Police Headquarters, Saudabad, which were attended by a large number of family members, relatives and police officials. Daim is under treatment at a hospital in critical condition.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2016.