FAISALABAD: A murder case has been registered against 17 policemen, including a station house officer, for their alleged involvement in the killing of two persons in a “staged encounter” in 2013.

The suspects have been booked under sections 148,149 and 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including the then Muridwala SHO, Rana Akram on the complaint of Munawar Shah.

Other suspects include sub-inspectors Khalid Hussain and Abdul Salam, assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) Shafiq and Naeemullah Shah, head constable Waris Ali, constables Latif, Abdul Ghafar, Tanvir Hussain, Waseem Anwar, Ahsanul Haq, Liaqat Ali, Qaiser Shareef, Adnan, Asif, Azam and Zakaullah. In his application, Munawar Shah of Chak 235-GB, Jaranwala, said Ashraf Oadh had taken his son Saqlain Shah and Nasir to Muridwala SHO on Nov 27, 2013.

The SHO arrested both of them in connection with an incident in which a man, Zafar Iqbal, was killed in a house robbery at Chak 193-GB on Nov 19, 2013.

None of the suspects of staged encounter arrested

Later, Saqlain and Nasir were killed in a “staged encounter”, he said.

According to Shah, after killing Saqlain and Nasir, the SHO received Rs120,000 as a bribe from the robbery case complainant, Altaf.

Later, the family members of victim Zafar Iqbal told the then city police officer in an open court that the police had killed two men who had nothing to do with the robbery-cum-murder. They also told the CPO about the bribe allegedly received by the SHO.

The CPO ordered CIA SP to conduct a probe into the matter.

During the inquiry, the SP was told by Sultan Bahawal of Chak 511-GB, Tandlianwala, whose land was situated near the spot of “encounter”, that the police brought Saqlain and Ramzan there in a van and asked them to run.

When the two men refused to run, the police tied their hands and opened fire on them.

Munawar Shah told Dawn that police officers had been favouring the suspects in uniform and no action was taken against them.

He said the case had been registered against the 17 suspects on the direction of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

He said a judicial inquiry had also found the policemen guilty of killing Saqlain and Ramzan in a staged encounter.

The SHO challenged the judicial inquiry report in the LHC but the court rejected his petition and directed Faisalabad police to register a case against 17 policemen, he added.

City Police Officer Athar Ismail said some of the policemen, including SHO Akram had been suspended from service, while some of the suspects had fled the country.

He added that some of the suspects had been also been dismissed, while some other had retired from service.

He admitted none of the suspects had been arrested so far.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2017