LAHORE, Nov 3: Will the policeman who had killed a 10-year-old boy while recklessly driving the official jeep of a DIG on Abbott Road on Wednesday be brought to book?

Suleman Sadique, a class-IV student of the Government Muslim League School on Empress Road was standing along the road near the TV station when the official jeep of DIG (Welfare) Tehseen Anwar hit and killed him. It could not be ascertained whether or not the DIG was in the jeep at the time of accident.

Bilal, 13, told Dawn on Thursday that he and his younger brother left their house (38-Abbot Road opposite to the TV station) for a haircut on Wednesday.

“Suleman left the shop after getting his hair cut and I was waiting for my turn when a friend came there and informed me that my brother had met with an accident in front of the Mubarrak cinema. I rushed to the spot and found him lying in a pool of blood,” he said.

“The area people had gathered there, but nobody was willing to take my brother to hospital. They were asking the policemen to do so as they had hit the boy. Eventually, the policemen took him to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

Suleman’s mother says had her son been shifted to hospital soon after the accident, he might have been saved. “Perhaps he was destined to depart this way, so I do not want to get a murder case registered against the police driver as it will not bring my child back,” she said.

Requesting anonymity, a relative of the deceased told this reporter that they wanted to get a case registered in this regard but the police concerned ‘advised’ them not to do so.

“Nothing would be the outcome. It would be a waste of time and resources. Instead the whole family will have to pay the price for getting a case registered against the accused,” the relative quoted the policemen as having said.

“We are poor people and cannot afford any tussle with the all-powerful police,” he added.

Suleman’s father, Sadique Akbar, became a rickshaw driver some two months ago when he failed to pay the advance money to get a shop to run his embroidery business.

“I reached home three hours after the accident. The neighbours asked me to get a case registered against the police driver but I decided not to do so as it would be a futile exercise,” he said. Sadique had forgiven the culprit, saying it was an accident.

A policeman had reportedly informed the victim’s family that the department was considering to pay them compensatory amount after Eid.

Residents of the katchi abadi (Ahata PC Mandar opposite TV station) where Suleman’s family is residing are pursuing a case for ownership rights, which has been lying pending with a court.

No senior police officer, including the DIG whose official vehicle killed the boy, visited the bereaved family.