NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Police claimed to have gunned down two ‘bandits’ in an encounter on a link road near Mohammad Hassan Solangi village in Bhirya City taluka, 10 kilometres from here early on Sunday morning.

Parents of one of the ‘bandits’ rejected the police claim and said the law-enforcers had picked up their son 12 day ago without any charge and killed him in a staged encounter.

Bhirya City police station SHO Abdullah Awan told media persons that police were patrolling streets when they spotted two armed men standing by a link road near Mohammad Hassan Solangi village.

The suspects tried to flee on seeing police van and opened fire on it to stop it from chasing them. Police returned the fire and gunned down the suspects who were later identified as Munawwar Ali alias Munnu Solangi and his accomplice and relative Shafique Solangi, he said.

He said that 12 FIRs were registered against Munawwar at several police stations in the district but did not say anything about Shafique, which lent to credence to the parents’ claim that he was innocent.

The SHO remained silent when he was asked about Shafique’s criminal record and how and why he was with Munawwar when the encounter took place.

Abdul Haq, a head constable at the police station, tried to justify Shafique’s killing by saying that he got killed because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He said the ‘bandits’ originally hailed from Korey ja Bhan village near Mithiani and later Shafique’s parents settled in Qaim Colony in Naushaharo Feroze.

The bodies were brought to Bhirya City taulka hospital and were handed over to relatives after post mortem.

Late Shafique’s father Khan Mohammad, mother and other relatives who staged a demonstration outside the press club placing the body of their loved one before them on the road rejected the police claims.

The dejected father said that police picked up his son without any charge 12 days ago and demanded Rs100,000 bribe for his release despite the fact that there was no FIR or complaint lodged against him at any police station across the district.

He said that since they could not pay the huge bribe police killed his innocent son, who was a student of intermediate, in a staged encounter and were now accusing him of being a bandit.

No police officer or elected public representative contacted the protesters. They staged the protest for hours and then took away the body for burial.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2017