Guilty or innocent? Ghotki police kill ‘criminal’ in encounter

SUKKUR:

Ghotki police killed a man and arrested his brother after an encounter at Jarwar Khanpur Mahar road, near Mirpur Mathelo on Wednesday, for their alleged involvement in criminal activities.

The deceased was identified as Hafeez Solangi and his brother, who was taken into custody, was identified as Raziq Solangi.

The Jarwar police station SHO Akhtiar Bullo told the media that a group of five criminals was hiding in the area and they opened fire at the police. After an exchange of fire, Hafeez was killed and his brother, Raziq, was arrested while three of their accomplices escaped, he said.

The SHO said that Hafeez was an absconder and was wanted by the Punjab and Karachi police in 10 cases. He added that the alleged criminal was earlier arrested in Karachi but he managed to run away from the police during his hearing in the city court.

The officer claimed that a double barrel gun and a pistol were found in their possession during the encounter. However, the SHO neither managed to prove anything against the suspect nor produced any weapon used by the suspects.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the two brothers insisted that Hafeez was an innocent and a law-abiding citizen.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2015.