Dwellers of Hijrat Colony were left in a state of shock and disbelief when one of their residents, Safraz Shah, was killed, one of the colony’s residents, Muhammad Shaheen Javed, told the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-I) on Saturday.
Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso presided as the special public prosecutor (SPP) Muhammad Khan Buriro examined Javed, a KESC employee who appeared as the prosecution witness. His cross examination, however, has been adjoured till Monday.
He said that he was at the KESC camp in front of the press club, when he received a call at 9:30 pm from his younger brother who informed him about the killing of “a boy from the colony as a result of firing by Rangers”.
“I went home the following morning and saw hordes of people, who were visibly terrorised and shocked.”
Javed said that he saw the actual footage of the killing on the 8 am news. “I saw a man dragging the boy and kicking him. He handed the young man over to the Rangers, who then fired and injured him.”
He told the court that though they were not related, he had known Sarfraz and his family for 12 years. He showed up at the police station to have his statement recorded voluntarily in response to a police appeal for people to come forward and record their statements.
The court also issued a notice to the SPP about an application made by Major Ashfaq Ahmed from Pakistan Rangers seeking the return of their arms. The official has also submitted a general authority letter to the court which allows him to move on behalf of the Rangers. The machine gun, sub-machine gun, four G-3 rifles and the mobile van belonging to the Rangers are currently in the court’s custody.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2011.
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