Hands up: Man shot dead, another injured as police open fire

Residents claim both men used to deal in currency exchange.

PESHAWAR: A man identified as Niaz Ali was shot dead while Muhammad Younus, a resident of Bahadar Kalay, was injured when the police opened fire at them at Inqilab Chowk, Musazai on Sunday morning.

A Badhaber police mobile was on routine patrol near Inqilab Chowk when they spotted two suspicious men in a field. Police asked the men to surrender themselves but when they tried to escape, the police opened fire at them. Ali, a resident of Bara, Khyber Agency was killed on the spot while Younas
was injured.



“They were armed and had started firing at the police,” an official from the police station told The Express Tribune. “The suspects were killed in retaliatory fire. It was on the day of the polio drive and the police had been asked to check anyone who looked suspicious.”

He added rumours about the men being unarmed were baseless as the police had seized two TT pistols and an AK-47 from them.

Residents, however, said the only mistake Ali and Younus made was trying to run away from the police. They added the police mistook that move and thought the men were terrorists and shot at them.

“We know they were currency dealers,” said an elder of the area. “They probably did not want the money they were carrying to fall into the hands of the police and that’s why they tried to run away.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2014.