Twisted end: Rape and murder suspect killed in police custody

DPO had claimed that Javed Shah had confessed to <br /> raping and killing a policewoman he had been seeing .

BAHAWALPUR:

Raiti police claimed on Sunday that a murder suspect in their custody had been killed by unidentified gunmen who had tried to free him.

Police said that Javed Shah had been taken into custody for the rape and murder of Nabeela, a policewoman, on July 3.

Bahawalpur District Police Officer (DPO) Sohail Zafar Chattha had said that Shah had confessed to the rape and murder.

He had said that Shah had taken Nabeela to Pul Suni and had raped and killed her by hitting her with a blunt object.

He had then hidden her body and called her family members, to demand a Rs500,000 ransom.

Police had arrested Shah using the victim’s mobile phone data. Aab-i-Hayat police had been granted his physical remand on July 19. He told police that he had hidden the weapon he used to kill Nabeela and her cell phone near the Rainy Canal. On Sunday, a police party took Shah to the area near Chandia Mor.

Police said when they reached the spot, six people, riding three motorcycles, confronted them and asked them to handover Shah. The policemen fired at the gunmen, who also shot at the police team. The shooting continued for over an hour, after which the gunmen fled.

The policemen then discovered that Shah had been injured.

He was taken to hospital where he died. Raiti police have registered a case against unidentified men.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2014.