Public outcry : Four policemen booked for killing two brothers

Shakeel and Zeeshan were allegedly shot dead on Sixth Road late Saturday night

RAWALPINDI:

Four officials of the Rawalpindi police’s muhafiz squad allegedly gunned down two brothers for reportedly refusing to stop their motorcycle after they were signalled to do so near Sixth Road late Saturday night.

Both victims, identified as Shakeel Butt and Zeeshan Butt, died on the spot. Shakeel was in the meat business and had shops at Sadiqabad Chowk while Zeeshan worked at a cash & carry store in Islamabad. Their bodies were taken to Holy Family Hospital.

ASI Ashraf, constables Zaheer, Zubair and Uzair have been booked on charges of killing the unarmed brothers, said Rawalpindi police spokesperson Imran Haider. He added that ‘the brothers had no criminal record.’

The spokesperson said that Ashraf and Zaheer have been arrested while the other cops are on the run, adding that police was conducting raids for their arrest. He said Uzair and Zubair were the key suspects as, according to the arrested policemen, they were the ones who pulled the trigger.

The police said both victims were heading home when the police ordered them to stop and opened fire over their reported failure to do so at around 11pm. A case under Section 302 (premeditated murder) has been registered at the New Town Police Station.

“Initial investigation suggests that opening straight fire was sheer incompetence of the policemen,” said Haider, while admitting police officials’ negligence. “That is why they have been booked and no one is trying to give a cover to their act,” he explained.

Haider confirmed the verbal findings of the post-mortem report which suggests that the victims were shot a bullet each in the chest and abdomen from the front. “The post-mortem led to the registration of FIR and has lessened their claims of being innocent,” he shared.

On Sunday, the victims’ family took the bodies and protested at the Islamabad Expressway by blocking the crucial link between the twin cities. Among other grievances, the family was disappointed over the fact that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was in town but did not offer condolences.



Traffic along the highway was adversely affected owing to the protest, even though it was a Sunday and schools, offices were closed.

Ultimately, their frustration resulted in violence, leading the protesters to attack Rawalpindi SSP Operations Karamatullah Malik when he reached the site to convince the family to end their protest and bury the victims.

The protesters, however, took their time, offered funeral prayers for the victims on the highway, and then dispersed.

In his statement, Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Israr Ahmed Abbasi said police will conduct an investigation ‘on merit’ and it will be ensured that guilty officials get exemplary punishment. “Such incidents lower police force’s morale,” Haider quoted the CPO as saying.

While condemning the incident and expressing solidarity with the bereaved family, leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf declared the incident ‘a test case’ for police and the ruling party in the wake of the Model Town incident in Lahore last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2015.