Extra judicial killing: Registration of case against police officials sought

Villagers hold protest demo, reject inquiry report.

HARIPUR: While rejecting the police inquiry into the killing of a villager, the residents of Tofkiyan and Jandiyal villages staged a protest demonstration on Thursday, demanding the registration of a criminal case against the police personnel, who allegedly murdered Sharif Khan.

The protesters gathered near the Pindgakhra-Tofkiyan link road and chanted slogans against the police.

Sharif Khan of Tofkiyan village was shot dead in a police firing last week. The Khanpur police claim that he was killed when police returned fire after he shot at and injured Additional Station House Officer Ishtiaq Khan during a raid.

The police maintained that the accused was wanted for murdering a taxi driver, Abid, who accidently got caught in an armed skirmish between groups of Sharif and his rival Zohaib Khan.

On the other hand, the family members and villagers accused the police of the extra judicial killing of Sharif on the instigation of his rivals from whom, they alleged, the police had accepted a graft worth Rs500,000.

The villagers protested by placing the body in the middle of the road for over two hours. Later, they dispersed after Haripur District Police Officer Muhammad Ali Gandapir reached the site and Gandapur ordered an inquiry. He suspended a sub inspector and four constables while the probe was still on, police sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2012.