11 policemen booked for deadly 'fake encounter'

Wife seeks justice three years after custodial death

VEHARI:

An FIR has been registered against 11 police officials for killing a man in a fake encounter three years after the incident.

The FIA registered the case after completing an investigation.

According to an FIA spokesperson, the agency lodged an FIR against the 11 police officials under serious charges for their alleged involvement in the fake encounter.

The complainant, Khalida Parveen, had appealed for justice for her husband's murder.

She alleged that her husband, Muhammad Asif, had been abducted on April 6, 2023, while buying vegetables from a market. At the time, there was no case against him, and no court proceedings were pending. However, after taking him into custody, the police registered several cases against him.

She claimed that the police had planned and carried out a fake encounter. On the night of April 19, 2023, they took her husband and another citizen, Muhammad Shaban, to the jurisdiction of Burewala Model Town police station and fired at them.

During the firing, Thingee Police Station SHO Mazhar Fareed who was then an ASI, shot Asif in the leg. He was shifted to the Vehari District Headquarters Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The complainant alleged that her husband had been illegally detained, subjected to torture and extra-judicially killed without any court proceedings or legal authority.

After completing the investigation, the Multan FIA Anti-Corruption Circle (ACC) registered an FIR with charges under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 34 (common intention), 109 (abetment), and the Torture and Custodial Death Act 2022.

According to the FIR, 11 police officials were found involved in the fake encounter and murder of Muhammad Asif. The officials include SHO Nasir Mahmood, ASI Mazhar Fareed, ASI Muhammad Ali, Driver Constable Muhammad Imran, Constable Ahsan Amin, Constable Naveed Irfan, Constable Muhammad Iqbal, Constable Saifullah, Constable Abdul Wahid, Constable Muhammad Sarwar and Driver Constable Majeed Rasheed.