PESHAWAR: The police on Monday claimed they had killed a proclaimed offender in an ‘encounter’ on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

However, the killing sparked protest by the local people, who blocked the traffic on a major road in Samarbagh area for three hours claiming the deceased was innocent and that he was killed in a fake encounter.

An official of the local police station said four armed men attacked a police patrol near Ring Road and one of them, Mamoor Shah, a proclaimed offender from Samarbagh village, died and the others fled.

“The police asked the armed men to surrender but instead of complying with the orders, they opened fire on the patrol with automatic weapons. The encounter lasted 20 minutes,” he said.

The official said when attackers escaped, the police conducted a search operation in the area and seized the body of an accomplice of the attackers, who died of bullet injuries.

He said the deceased, a proclaimed offender, was wanted in various cases of heinous crime.

However, relatives of the deceased along with other villagers, including women, brought the body to the Ring Road and blocked Dalazak Road and Ring Road for around three hours.

They shouted slogans against the police and demanded a high-level inquiry into the ‘fake encounter.’

The protesters dispersed peacefully after senior police officials showed up and assured them of independent inquiry into the killing.

Mehmood Shah, brother of Mamoor Shah, said the deceased was innocent.

“The police picked my brother up when he was on the way to home from the house of our sister. They registered fake cases against him and killed him in a fake encounter,” he said.

The man appealed to the Peshawar High Court chief justice to take a suo moto notice of the case and ensure dispensation of justice to the family.

566 SUSPECTS HELD: The police also announced they rounded up 566 suspected persons during search and strike operations in different parts of the province on Monday.

They also claimed seizure of arms and ammunition.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2015

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