Fake encounter: Family protest against delay in arrest of 30 suspects

Protesters demanded immediate arrest of the accused, including 24 policemen.

FAISALABAD:

Relatives of a man who was killed by the police staged a protest demonstration against the delay in the arrest of 30 men charged with staging the encounter.

The protesters, all resident of Chak Jhumra, blocked the Jhumra Road. They chanted slogans against the police and demanded immediate arrest of the accused, including 24 policemen.

Muhammad Siddique, one of the protestors, said that the police team was led by Chak Jhumra SHO Rana Mazharul Haq, who had earlier arrested Kashif on the behest of his rivals. He said Kashif was let go and shot on his way home on July 23, 2012, in a fake encounter in Industrial Area.

He said Shujaat Ali, a cousin of the deceased and a resident of Chak 103-RB Phalahi, had filed a petition on July 25 seeking an inquiry into the encounter. The court had ordered a judicial inquiry that proved the encounter fake.

Siddique said that their rivals were now pressing them to withdraw the case and had been threatening the family of the deceased with dire consequences. He alleged that the nominated policemen had also been threatening to implicate the bereaved family in some false case if they did not agree to a settlement.

The protesters dispersed when a police team visited the scene and assured them that the accused would be arrested soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2013.