Two critically injured by police firing

DPO suspends three personnel, orders inquiry

SIALKOT:

Police opened fire on three friends who had been on their way home after having Sehri at a restaurant. Two of them were seriously injured.

The DPO suspended three police personnel and ordered an inquiry against them.

Ali Haider, Noman and Adnan had Sehri at a restaurant on Kashmir Road within the limits of the Muradpur Police Station.

When they were going home, the police personnel opened fire on them from a police mobile.

The bullets hit Ali Haider and Noman, injuring them seriously. According to relatives, Adnan miraculously escaped unscathed, but he was taken to an unknown place by the police.

Meanwhile, the injured were admitted to the Allama Iqbal Teaching Hospital where their condition was said to be critical.

The DPO of Sialkot, Syed Zeeshan Raza, took notice of the incident and suspended ASI Abdul Qayyum, Head Constable Akbar Baig and Driver Constable Nasir Mehmood and tasked an SP with conducting a probe into the incident. The DPO said that legal and departmental action would be taken against those responsible.

In January 2021, four police personnel were arrested in Dijkot after they opened fire at unarmed occupants of a vehicle who had failed to pull over at a checkpoint on Samundari Road, killing one man and injuring three others.

The victim, Sardar Muhammad Waqas, a resident of Chak 475/GB, was traveling with three passengers in a car when he was signaled to stop by the policemen at the checkpoint and were shot at when they did not comply.

Dozens of relatives of the slain man protested by setting tyres on fire near the Lorry Ada, blocking the road for traffic. The then IGP of Punjab, Inam Ghani, had taken notice of the incident and sent officials to the spot to investigate the matter.

An initial investigation report submitted to the IGP revealed that the police personnel had misused their power and shot dead the driver of the car.

Four policemen, ASI Shahid Manzoor, Ghulam Dastagir, Usman Hamid and Mohsin Sufiyan, were put behind bars at the Samanabad Police Station and a case registered against them. Police also handed over the body of the victim to his family after postmortem examination.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the personnel also desecrated the body. Sources said that the patrolling police personnel carried the corpse around for four hours in a bid to cover up the matter.

Reportedly, 35-year-old Waqas was on way to his village from Faisalabad in a car when patrolling police personnel signaled him to stop. When the driver did not stop the car, they chased him and shot at the vehicle. The victim tried to escape the gunfire near Chak 258/RB but the cops shot and injured him critically, which led to his death.

A four-member committee had been formed to probe into the matter in detail.

The postmortem report had revealed that the victim had been shot in the abdomen and he passed away due to excessive bleeding.

The victim’s grandfather, Nazir Ahmed, had appealed to the then prime minister to ensure justice and punish the killers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2023.