Jhelum police to probe alleged encounter case
Case transferred out of Rawalpindi district, family adamant on judicial probe
Case transferred out of Rawalpindi district, family adamant on judicial probe. PHOTO: FILE
RAWALPINDI:
Investigations into the deaths of two brothers, killed in an alleged fake police encounter in the Quaid-i-Azam colony of Rawalpindi, have been transferred to the Jhelum district, it has been learnt.
The move comes even as the family of the two men wait for a judicial probe into the killings to begin.
A senior police officer told The Express Tribune that Jhelum District Police Officer Abdul Ghafar Qaisarani would be investigating the killings of 29-year-old Waseem Anwarul Haq and 30-year-old Muhammad Irfan.
He said that the investigations had been shifted out of Rawalpindi district following an inquiry conducted by DIG Abu Bakar Khudabukhsh, on directions from Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The inquiry report had raised concerns over claims made by RA Bazaar police, who had claimed that the two brothers had been killed in an encounter after they opened fire on a police party searching for Abdul Manan - wanted for stealing a motorbike.
The Rawalpindi city police officer had already suspended 14 police officials including Si Malik Sajid, following the report.
Despite that, the brothers’ family had expressed a lack of confidence in police investigators and demanded a judicial probe.
Bilqis Akhtar, the mother of the two brothers, had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench last month. However, she withdrew her petition on March 29 after she was told that her application for judicial probe had been accepted.
“We were informed that the LHC chief justice would soon appoint a judicial commission to probe the killings some two weeks ago, but have received no information so far,” said another brother of Waseem and Irfan, Naeemul Haq.
He reiterated that his family had no confidence in the police since they had already killed two of his six brothers and had booked the rest for being involved in a fake encounter. He said that his family would accept nothing less than a judicial inquiry into the killings.
He, however, confirmed that Jhelum police were investigating the case, adding that he had received a call from police officials there inviting him to join investigations.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2017.
Investigations into the deaths of two brothers, killed in an alleged fake police encounter in the Quaid-i-Azam colony of Rawalpindi, have been transferred to the Jhelum district, it has been learnt.
The move comes even as the family of the two men wait for a judicial probe into the killings to begin.
A senior police officer told The Express Tribune that Jhelum District Police Officer Abdul Ghafar Qaisarani would be investigating the killings of 29-year-old Waseem Anwarul Haq and 30-year-old Muhammad Irfan.
He said that the investigations had been shifted out of Rawalpindi district following an inquiry conducted by DIG Abu Bakar Khudabukhsh, on directions from Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The inquiry report had raised concerns over claims made by RA Bazaar police, who had claimed that the two brothers had been killed in an encounter after they opened fire on a police party searching for Abdul Manan - wanted for stealing a motorbike.
The Rawalpindi city police officer had already suspended 14 police officials including Si Malik Sajid, following the report.
Despite that, the brothers’ family had expressed a lack of confidence in police investigators and demanded a judicial probe.
Bilqis Akhtar, the mother of the two brothers, had filed a petition in the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench last month. However, she withdrew her petition on March 29 after she was told that her application for judicial probe had been accepted.
“We were informed that the LHC chief justice would soon appoint a judicial commission to probe the killings some two weeks ago, but have received no information so far,” said another brother of Waseem and Irfan, Naeemul Haq.
He reiterated that his family had no confidence in the police since they had already killed two of his six brothers and had booked the rest for being involved in a fake encounter. He said that his family would accept nothing less than a judicial inquiry into the killings.
He, however, confirmed that Jhelum police were investigating the case, adding that he had received a call from police officials there inviting him to join investigations.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2017.