Attack on PPP rally: Community insists suspect was killed in fake encounter

Azizullah Janwri was rescued from lock-up by armed men and shot dead by police.

SUKKUR: Azizullah Janwri, who was killed by Sukkur police in an alleged encounter on Tuesday, was buried in Shaheed Khanan Shah Bukhari graveyard in Khairpur on Wednesday.

Azizullah alias Mullah Khan was the key suspect in the attack on the Pakistan Peoples Party rally on October 7 that left six people dead and 10 injured.

He was arrested from Bhawalpur on October 14 and was later remanded to Khairpur police for 12 days. He was transferred to Bagarji police station near Sukkur for further investigations.

It was from there that he was freed by four armed men who had stormed the police station and overpowered the lone policeman on duty.

A police team then chased the culprits and Azizullah was the lone casualty of a 30-minute ‘encounter’ between police and the culprits.

However, members of the Janwri community on Wednesday insisted that Azizullah was killed in a fake encounter.

The suspect had a run in with law enforcers in the past and had also reportedly threatened ‘B’ Section SHO Tuffail Bhutto.

Karim Bux Janwri, who is the president of the community’s association in Khairpur, said that Azizullah was a plumber and had his house raided by police around six months back. Police took away a Kalashnikov and bullets from the house. Karim Bux said that the Azizullah accused Khairpur administrator Niaz Janwri at the time.

He added that they were contemplating filing a constitutional petition over the incident.

Administration officials as well as PPP authorities were quick to distance themselves from the “encounter” during which Azizullah was killed.

Khairpur administrator Niaz Janwri denied having any personal enmity with Azizullah. “I had no enmity with Azizullah and I was not involved in his killing.”

Political secretary to Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Advocate Nazar Mohammad Gaho, said that PPP leaders were not in any way involved in Azizullah’s murder.

He added that the chief minister has taken notice of the incident and ordered an inquiry. “Sukkur SSP [Pir Mohammad Shah] and Khairpur SSP [Irfan Baloch] are dedicated officers and we can rule out any fake encounter.”

Provincial information minister Sharjeel Memon had said on Tuesday that the incident was not an extrajudicial killing.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.