Extrajudicial killing: Murder cases registered against Nawanshehr police officials

FIR lodged on orders of DIG Hazara; none of the accused arrested yet

ABBOTABAD: In what can best be described as a rare move, the police on Monday evening registered a murder case against a Deputy Superintendent of Police of Mirpur along with an SHO, an additional SHO and three constables of Nawansheher police station for allegedly killing a man extrajudicially over two weeks ago.

The case was registered on the orders of DIG Hazara Saeed Khan Wazir after family of the victim staged protests.

According to the police version of the incident, officials at the Nawanshehr acted on a tip-off about presence of a sizable quantity of drugs and a dealer Junaid Khan, alias Joni, near Lakh Pati Chowk in Nawanshehr.

The officials claimed that when they raided his house on the night of September 23, Joni and six unidentified accomplices opened fire at the policemen injuring two constables, Waqas and Sher Ali.

In the ensuing exchange of fire, Joni was injured, but he and his accomplices managed to escape. Police launched a search for the men and discovered Joni’s body in the bushes near a graveyard.

The police subsequently registered a criminal case against Joni and his accomplices.



However Joni’s family disputed the police’s account claiming that he was innocent and had been killed extra-judicially.

Following the protests, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and DIG Hazara ordered a probe into the matter while all the accused officers at the Nawanshehr police station were transferred to police lines and suspended from service.

A committee comprising SP Investigation Abbottabad Sajid Khan, SP Investigation Haripur Ayaz Khan, DIG (retired) Sarfraz Jadoon and local religious leader Ayaz Khan carried out an investigation.

Joni’s family and the local government in the area, meanwhile, continued their protests against the police demanding an FIR against the officials responsible.

While the committee’s inquiry report has not yet been made public, the DIG Hazara Wazir on Monday ordered registration of criminal case against the accused officers.

“Yes it’s correct we have registered a criminal case against DSP Mirpur Amjad Hussain, SHO Nawanshehr Sheryar Khan, Additional SHO Aurangzeb Khan and three constables under section 302, 148 and 149 PPC”, said a senior police official with knowledge of the matter while requesting not to be named since he was not authorized to speak to the media.

He added that the FIR had been registered on the complaint of Rashida Bibi, Joni’s mother.

While the cases have been registered, none of the accused had been arrested till the filing of this report.

The Abbottabad District Nazim Sardar Sher Bahadur had on Saturday accused the DPO and his team of being involved in the extra-judicial killing while performing poorly and demanded action against them.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2016.