PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court here on Saturday rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of a man suspected of killing a polio officer in Mohmand tribal district in 2019 for reporting his refusal to vaccinate his daughter.

Petitioner Zubair was taken into custody after the judge pronounced the rejection of his petition after the completion of arguments by both parties.

Wajid Ali, the union council polio officer, was gunned down on April 8, 2019, in the jurisdiction of the Haleemzai police station in Mohmand tribal district.

The police had registered FIR of the killing on the complaint of the deceased’s father, Malik Bakht Munir, under sections 302, 327 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Wajid was shot dead allegedly for reporting vaccination refusal

The complainant had said his son had gone to supervise an anti-polio campaign in Yaseen Kor village and suspect Zubair had fired at him with a pistol as the latter was on the way to home.

He added that the people shifted his son to the hospital but he succumbed to critical injuries.

The complainant claimed that the suspect was opposed to the vaccination of his seven-month-old daughter against polio and the polio officer had reported that to the anger of the former, who shot him down for revenge.

The killing had drawn widespread condemnation. The World Health Organisation had also expressed shock and dismay over the murder of Wajid Ali and declared him a dedicated front-line polio worker in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The complainant’s lawyer, Nouman Muhib Kakakhel, argued that the suspect was named in the murder case.

He argued that the motive was clear that the suspect declined the administration of anti-polio drops to his child, so the deceased filed a report against him to the relevant authorities for action.

The counsel said the records of the suspect’s phone calls proved his presence at the crime site and revealed that he called another man, who helped him flee.

He added the accomplice, Hamza, and some men were booked for sheltering the absconder.

Mr Kakakhel contended that the suspect had absconded for over two years before approaching the court for pre-arrest bail.

He added that an absconding suspected killer had lost several of his rights due to his conduct, including the right to bail.

The counsel contended that the suspect had brought a bad name to the country by resisting polio vaccination and killing a polio officer, who had worked day and night for the eradication of the virus in the country.

He added that the targeted killing of the polio officer had created a sense of fear among the people, especially those related to the vaccination of the children against the virus.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2021