An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad censured the police for its handling of evidence in the Osama Satti murder case on Wednesday, remarking that the police seemed to be siding with the suspects.

ATC Judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan presided over the hearing in which the five suspects, all of whom are policemen, were presented in court in the murder case of Osama Satti.

Osama was killed on Jan 2 on Kashmir Highway after police opened fire at his car and he received multiple bullet wounds. Police said they mistook the 21-year-old student's car for that of a fleeing robber but his father claims they intentionally targeted him over a previous verbal altercation.

During the hearing today, a point of contention arose when the judge asked whether pictures of Osama's car had been taken. A police representative present in court said pictures had been taken of the car from the back.

To this, the judge asked whether pictures had been taken of the car seat which showed exit points of the bullets since "you can't get hit by bullets [from the back] unless they exit the seat".

However, the judge grilled the police investigating team when he was told that pictures of the seat and bullet exit points were not taken.

"What [do you] mean the picture has not been taken, this means you all are involved [together]," the judge said. "You've brought the picture of the car from the back but haven't brought the picture in which the front was hit."

The court ordered that all the missing material be made part of the record.

The complainant's lawyer, Raja Faisal Younis, was also present in the court and alleged the police were "tampering with records and evidence".

The police also informed the court that a joint investigation team to probe the matter had been formed and a judicial inquiry was also being carried out.

The five suspects were handed over to police on physical remand for an additional seven days.

Records sealed

Dawn had earlier reported that all records relating to the killing of Osama Satti had been sealed by the capital police under the directives of senior officers after contradictions were found in them.

Two of the records showed that the police had succeeded to intercept and stop the car of the young man. According to the communication record, a man in a white car was heading towards Golra on Kashmir Highway after committing a criminal activity and a directive was issued to cordon off the road.

The record showed the car heading towards Police Lines from the G-10 traffic signal, sources said, quoting the record. A sub-inspector, who was among the officials who shot the youth, is quoted in the record as saying that they had intercepted and stopped the car near the G-10 signal.

Another record made at 2am revealed that the car was intercepted and stopped at the G-10 signal. It continued with the police officials firing at the car and resulting in the death of the rider.

According to another record also made at 2am, the police fired at the car in G-10. The car, it said, was heading towards Peshawar Mor.