Operation against terrorists or encounter?
ISLAMABAD:
Eyewitness accounts of the shoot-out at G-8 Markaz on Wednesday contradict the account given by the police, who claim that the killed man was a terrorist.
A few hours after the incident, senior police officials held a press conference and declared that Zaheer Ahmed Awan had been a terrorist and shot dead during an exchange of fire with the police. Eyewitness accounts, however, claim that the man had been without weapons.
The controversial police operation against the alleged terrorists has raised suspicions amongst people that Islamabad police staged a fake encounter. Awan had a criminal record against him and his activities were suspicious. However, his close friends and colleagues suspect that the police deliberately killed him when they could have arrested him.
On Wednesday, Awan, a gym trainer, went to an auto workshop in Sector G-8 Markaz where a police party in plain clothes had been waiting for him following a tip off.
Explaining the chain of events, Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Tahir Alam Khan had stated during the media briefing right after the incident that Awan and his accomplies had opened fire on police personnel upon spotting them. Police returned fire and during the exchange, Awan was killed and his accomplice Rana Zafar Iqbal caught, while their third partner managed to flee from the scene, the SSP said. The SSP maintained that it was unclear whether it was a police bullet that killed Awan or one fired by his own accomplices. Later, the FIR registered in the Margalla police station clearly mentioned that Awan was killed by his own accomplice.
But in a strange twist, eyewitness accounts of the incident contradict the police account. A worker at the workshop in G-8 Markaz, Muhammad Salman, told The Express Tribune that before Zaheer and Iqbal arrived to collect their car from the workshop, some men in plain clothes came to the shop and sat in the office, waiting for Awan and Iqbal to arrive. When Awan entered the office and saw them, he rushed out immediately and began to run. The men asked him to stop and then opened fire at him.
Muhammad Rafiq, a property dealer who saw the firing incident from inside his office, said that the men fired two shots. “I think the first shot missed him. The second one hit him in the head and he fell on the ground,” he said. The post mortem report of Awan suggested that only one bullet hit his head. The entry wound was on the back of the head, which means he was hit from behind while he was running. The eye-witnesses said there was no third accomplice of Zaheer and they were without weapons.
“I did not see weapons with them. If they were hidden somewhere, I wouldn’t know,” said Salman Qureshi, an eye-witness. They also said Iqbal did not try to run and was arrested on the spot.
On Thursday, police obtained physical remand for Iqbal for seven days. Some police sources told The Express Tribune that Iqbal was being pressurised by the Margalla police to take the killing of Awan on his head in exchange for taking on the role of an “approver.” The source added that Iqbal had refused to accept charges for the murder but feared that during the seven day remand, police would torture him so much that he would cave in.
Sources in police said that Zaheer Awan had served as a gym trainer at the police fitness gym established in the office of Islamabad Traffic Police in 2008, raising suspicions that he might have had links with certain police officials. “The incident might be the result of personal enmity between Zaheer and some police official,” said a police source.
On Thursday, some police officials were reshuffled from their posts. Two DSPs were posted to traffic, replacing the existing officers only hours after the incident. However, the police spokesperson maintained that these recent transfers were a routine matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2010.
Eyewitness accounts of the shoot-out at G-8 Markaz on Wednesday contradict the account given by the police, who claim that the killed man was a terrorist.
A few hours after the incident, senior police officials held a press conference and declared that Zaheer Ahmed Awan had been a terrorist and shot dead during an exchange of fire with the police. Eyewitness accounts, however, claim that the man had been without weapons.
The controversial police operation against the alleged terrorists has raised suspicions amongst people that Islamabad police staged a fake encounter. Awan had a criminal record against him and his activities were suspicious. However, his close friends and colleagues suspect that the police deliberately killed him when they could have arrested him.
On Wednesday, Awan, a gym trainer, went to an auto workshop in Sector G-8 Markaz where a police party in plain clothes had been waiting for him following a tip off.
Explaining the chain of events, Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) Tahir Alam Khan had stated during the media briefing right after the incident that Awan and his accomplies had opened fire on police personnel upon spotting them. Police returned fire and during the exchange, Awan was killed and his accomplice Rana Zafar Iqbal caught, while their third partner managed to flee from the scene, the SSP said. The SSP maintained that it was unclear whether it was a police bullet that killed Awan or one fired by his own accomplices. Later, the FIR registered in the Margalla police station clearly mentioned that Awan was killed by his own accomplice.
But in a strange twist, eyewitness accounts of the incident contradict the police account. A worker at the workshop in G-8 Markaz, Muhammad Salman, told The Express Tribune that before Zaheer and Iqbal arrived to collect their car from the workshop, some men in plain clothes came to the shop and sat in the office, waiting for Awan and Iqbal to arrive. When Awan entered the office and saw them, he rushed out immediately and began to run. The men asked him to stop and then opened fire at him.
Muhammad Rafiq, a property dealer who saw the firing incident from inside his office, said that the men fired two shots. “I think the first shot missed him. The second one hit him in the head and he fell on the ground,” he said. The post mortem report of Awan suggested that only one bullet hit his head. The entry wound was on the back of the head, which means he was hit from behind while he was running. The eye-witnesses said there was no third accomplice of Zaheer and they were without weapons.
“I did not see weapons with them. If they were hidden somewhere, I wouldn’t know,” said Salman Qureshi, an eye-witness. They also said Iqbal did not try to run and was arrested on the spot.
On Thursday, police obtained physical remand for Iqbal for seven days. Some police sources told The Express Tribune that Iqbal was being pressurised by the Margalla police to take the killing of Awan on his head in exchange for taking on the role of an “approver.” The source added that Iqbal had refused to accept charges for the murder but feared that during the seven day remand, police would torture him so much that he would cave in.
Sources in police said that Zaheer Awan had served as a gym trainer at the police fitness gym established in the office of Islamabad Traffic Police in 2008, raising suspicions that he might have had links with certain police officials. “The incident might be the result of personal enmity between Zaheer and some police official,” said a police source.
On Thursday, some police officials were reshuffled from their posts. Two DSPs were posted to traffic, replacing the existing officers only hours after the incident. However, the police spokesperson maintained that these recent transfers were a routine matter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2010.