Fatal disregard: Police shoot biker who did not stop at picket

Police searched him to confirm that he was not carrying a weapon


Our Correspondent May 17, 2015
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LAHORE:


A biker was injured when a policeman shot him for failing to stop at a picket late on Saturday near Multan Road Chungi.


A team from Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station, headed by SHO Amjad Hussain, had set up the picket on Multan Road. “Hafiz Umar, 27, came speeding towards the picket and was signalled to stop. He did not slow down. Instead, he maneuvered to avoid the picket at high speed. Hussain then shot him. Umer took a bullet near the left shoulder and fell down on the road. Police searched him to confirm that he was not carrying a weapon,” duty officer at the Gulshan-i-Iqbal station said.

Umer, a resident of Wahdat Colony, was taken to Jinnah Hospital, where doctors treating him said his condition was critical. They said that he had undergone two surgeries on Sunday.

Dozens of Umer’s relatives and friends staged a protest against police. They visited the place where the incident had occurred and threw away the barriers set up by police.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Allah Ditta, father of the injured man, said that his son was returning home after attending a Shab-i-Meraj mehfil. “He was riding at full speed because there was no traffic on the road. When the policemen signalled him, he could not stop immediately,” he said. Iqbal Town Operations SP Iqbal Khan said police had directed an unidentified man to stop at a police picket, who failed to comply. “This is an operational hazard. In times like these, you cannot trust anyone not to be a terrorist. Citizens must stop when asked by police. ,” he said.

He said that there were standing orders and SOPs issued as part of the National Action Plan allowing the policemen to shoot at anyone who did not stop at police pickets.

An FIR was registered against the Gulshan-i-Iqbal SHO on the complaint of Allah Ditta. DIG Haider Ashraf has suspended him from duty.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2015. 

COMMENTS (1)

Imtiaz | 8 years ago | Reply You do your job, gets suspended.. Better do nothing as rest of the police..
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