LANDI KOTAL: Scores of tribesmen took to the roads here on Saturday in protest against the alleged extrajudicial killing of a serving khasadar personnel in police encounter in Peshawar on Friday night.

The protesters blocked the Peshawar-Torkham highway at the Charwazgai intersection by placing the coffin of the deceased there after holding a demonstration at Bacha Khan Chowk in Landi Kotal Bazaar.

Political activists, traders and family members of Adnan Khan, 23, who was allegedly killed in police encounter, participated in the demonstration.

Traffic on the main road leading to Torkham remained suspended till evening as the protesters demanded registration of an FIR against the commandant of Khyber Rifles along with holding of an independent judicial inquiry into Adnan’s arrest on November 11 and his alleged killing in a fake police encounter on Friday night in Regi locality of Peshawar.

Ismail Khan, father of Adnan, told this correspondent at the venue of demonstration that no reason was given to them about the arrest of his son in November last year and also they were not allowed to meet him during his custody with the security forces.

“We came to know about his killing on Saturday morning through media,” he said while adding that his son was denied a fair trial. He said that Adnan was a serving khasadar official and had no affiliation with any outlawed group.

Mr Ismail said that his son was survived by a widow, two sons and a daughter. “We would not have agitated was he presented before a court and even awarded death penalty, in case he was found guilty,” he argued, while insisting his son was killed in a fake police encounter. It was the second such incident in Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber in less than two months as another local Khatir Khan had also died of excessive torture in custody.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2020