Police make efforts to appease Jirga
Police encounter. PHOTO: AFP
A Jirga was held regarding the May 2 tragedy in Bangikhel.
The RPO and DPO also attended the Jirga. The RPO ordered an investigation into the matter. The RPO of Sargodha also gave a cheque of Rs500,000 to the family members of the three slain people.
A new FIR would be registered on the request of the relatives of those killed in the alleged police encounter.
The SHO of Bangikhel Police Station had been replaced with the SHO of the City Police Station, Shahid Nisar. According to the relatives present at the Jirga, the police killed innocent people in “a fake police encounter”.
In the case of the killing of three innocent people in the Khattak Belt, the RPO of Sargodha and the DPO of Mianwali, Matiullah Khan, suspended the CIA staff of Esa Khel. The DPO of Mianwali assured the victim's heirs of filing of a case against the accused.
The Jirga was originally convened by the dignitaries of the Khattak Belt to draw the future plan of action, but DPO of Mianwali, along with the RPO of Sargodha, arrived at the venue of the Jirga and listened to the elders of the Jirga.
The relatives of the victims were assured of all possible justice. The DPO said that the victims were like his children, and that the demand for justice would be met, and action taken against those responsible.
The RPO and DPO said that they were ready to file a case against those who the relatives of the deceased wanted to nominate in the case.
The relatives of the victims, however, sought some time for consultation with their lawyer.
Three people, two brothers and a cousin of theirs, had been killed in an alleged police encounter in Mutukhel area of Bangikhel.
The deceased had been on their way home after doing some shopping at the Shakardara Bazaar.
Hassan Shadu area of Bangikhel had descended into grief, and there’s hardly a home where tears had not been shed.
The people were not only grief stricken, but they were also angry. They insisted that police had mishandled the case.
Arif Khan Khattak, president of the Pakhtun Jirga, had demanded of the IGP to order a judicial inquiry into the murder.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2023.