Extra judicial killing: 4 including DSP accused of staging encounter

Case registered against policemen after LHC takes notice of suspicious killing.

LAHORE:

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against four policemen including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) for the extra judicial killing of a robbery suspect in a staged encounter, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Major (r) Mubashir told a press conference on Monday.

The DIG, who is principal of the Police Training School in Chuhng, said that the IG had told him to complete an inquiry into the incident in a day and based on his findings, Nishtar Colony police had registered a case under Sections 302/34 (murder, conspiracy to murder) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code against DSP Riasat Ali Javed, Sub Inspector Muhammad Riaz and Constables Abdul Qadir and Muhammad Asif.

He said the shooting occurred after a robbery at Makkah Medical Store in Youhanabad on Friday night. Three suspects including a man identified as Shehbaz Butt tried to hold up the store and took Rs35,000, but the store owner resisted and got into a fight with Butt. The other two robbers fled and Butt was overpowered by the owner and another man. They called the police, and two Muhafiz Squad bikes followed by a police vehicle arrived at the scene and Sub Inspector Riaz took Butt into custody.

He said that the policemen later told him that they had been returning to the police station when they identified and started chasing some motorbike snatchers. They said that Butt had tried to escape during the chase and been caught in a crossfire between the police and the bike snatchers.

DIG Mubashir said that based on the evidence he had collected so far in his inquiry, the police had lied and had staged a fake encounter at Rohi drain where they killed Butt. He said Butt had no criminal record and his autopsy was not yet finished.

The DIG has also recommended that seven other police officials be required to cooperate with the investigation and their statements recorded. He named these officials as Inspector Naveed Ahmad, Sub Inspector Zulfiqar Ali and Constables Ashraf, Abdur Rehman, Safarish Ali, Abdur Rauf and Muhammad Nawaz.

The DIG said that to ensure there is a fair investigation of the whole case, an officer from outside Lahore district would be put in charge of it. On the day of the incident, Nishtar Colony police had claimed that the robber had started the shootout by opening fire on the police.

Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry had taken suo motu notice of the encounter on Tuesday and summoned the inspector general of Punjab Police, the home secretary and the chief secretary.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2011.