Hands up or we’ll shoot

KHANEWAL: District police officer (DPO) Kamran Khan suspended the station house officer (SHO) Qalb-e-Sajjad of the city police station after a strong protest by relatives of a man who was killed in police cross firing a few days ago.

The relatives of Zulfiqar, who was allegedly killed by police firing some days ago did not stop his motorcycle on police orders. Zulfiqar Joiya was riding his motorcycle when a police party signaled him to stop but he sped away. The police vehicle chased him and hit his bike when he tried to escape on foot he was shot in the back. Joiya was rushed to local THQ and was referred to Nishtar Hospital Multan. Zulfiqar Joiya died at Nishtar Hospital on September 2, 2010. Police officials said that Zulfiqar was in the process of committing a crime when police intercepted him.     His relatives staged a protest demonstration in Multan and later in front of the DHQ hospital Khanewal prompting the DPO to suspend SHO Sajjad’s three-year long assignment at PS Khanewal city. “Because of the SHO’s negligence, it is impossible to verify what crime, if any Zulfiqar was about to commit,” Kamran Khan said, adding that police procedure demanded that runaways be surrounded not shot. Omar Daraz has been posted as the new SHO. APP

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.