Extrajudicial killing?: Police accused of killing man in fake encounter

BAHAWALPUR:

Relatives of a man killed in what police called an encounter claimed on Tuesday that he had been tortured to death. Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Siraj Khan and Muhammad Haji said that Hasilpur city police had arrested Talib 20 days ago. “They tortured him at the police station. After he died, they took his body to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital where his post mortem was conducted. Police are refusing to hand over the body, fearing we will stage a protest,” Haji said.

“Talib had been a criminal many years ago. However, he had given up after police arrested him and broke one of his legs. Recently, he was rearrested on the behest of his opponents and killed,” Haji said. He demanded that the government launch a judicial inquiry into the murder.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2014.