Dadu policeman sentenced to life in prison

ASI Sikandar Bhurgari convicted for murder of a local PML-F leader

HYDERABAD: The district and sessions court in Dadu convicted a policeman with a life sentence in prison in the case of staging a fake encounter in which a man was killed.

The verdict comes as a rare punishment given to a policeman, who take part in staged encounters in which mostly alleged suspects are shot dead or injured.

Sikandar Bhurgari, the convicted Assistant Sub-Inspector of Rukkan police station in Dadu district, was arrested after the verdict from outside the court and shifted to the prison. Former SHO Bhurgari had killed a man, Tariq Magsi, in a fake encounter within the limits of the Rukkan police station four years ago.

Tariq was a local leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional. His brother, Ghaffar Magsi, registered an FIR in which 10 persons, including eight policemen, were booked. He claimed that his brother was arrested and shot dead weeks later in police custody, which was reported as an encounter.

After he was nominated in the FIR, Bhurgari and the other nominated policemen obtained pre-arrest bail. The convict's bail was cancelled after the verdict.