Plea seeking action against cops dismissed

‘Evidence not sufficient to hold a trial’.

LAHORE: An additional district and sessions’ judge on Wednesday dismissed a complaint seeking action against 16 policemen for killing a murder suspect in, what the complainant believed, was a staged encounter.

Judge Muhammad Sher Abbas Awan maintained that the supporting evidence fell short of the recognised principles for admissibility of evidence and was not sufficient to summon the respondents for a trial.

Petitioner Akbar Ali had accused officials from the Allama Iqbal Town Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) and Manawan and Nawan Kot police stations of staging an encounter on January 2, 2015 where his son, held by Nawan Kot police in a murder-cum-terrorism case, was killed.

He had submitted that the Allama Iqbal Town CIA police had kept his son in illegal custody for 18 days before they presented him before a court to seek his physical remand.

The petitioner had said his son was later also implicated in cases registered with other police stations.

“The city police should be asked to take action against the 16 officials under Sections 201 (disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 302/34 (punishment for murder and injury) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 155-C of the Police Order of 2002,” the petitioner said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2015.