Extrajudicial killing?
Controversy surrounds the death of a young man in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth neighbourhood last week. Police claim to have killed Sartaj alias Taju, “a drug peddler wanted in 12 criminal cases”. But the young man’s family insists that the man executed by the police was a resident of Larkana, named Faisal Abro, and he was on a visit to Karachi to attend a family wedding. Accusing the police of ‘extra-judicial’ killing, the family says that the police took Faisal into custody at a mosque where he had gone to offer Friday prayers. The family quoted worshippers as saying that Faisal was shouting that he was not Sartaj, but the police took him out of the mosque and pumped multiple bullets into his head that caused his death. The mosque’s prayer leader has also confirmed that Faisal had been taken away by the police.
The police insist that Sartaj’s real name was Faisal Abro. They have rejected the statements of the dead man’s family and the prayer leader. A police official has stated that an inquiry will be carried out to make the matter clear. The circumstances surrounding the death of the man raise questions. The police say the dead man’s brother Iqbal, whose real name is Abdul Ghaffar Abro, too has been arrested in a drug-related case. Why was one brother killed and the other was merely arrested for the identical offence of involvement in drug trade? Why were the police in such a hurry that they gave Faisal the harshest punishment for the same alleged crime and dealt with his brother in a relatively lenient manner? The police say a clear picture will emerge only after the inquiry.
Dead men do not speak. This would bring the matter to closure. In recent years, several such incidents have happened in the city. There is no crueller tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of enforcing the law.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 16th, 2020.
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