LAHORE: Hundreds of residents of Green Town took to the streets, burnt tyres and lodged a strong protest against police against the killing of two men in an alleged encounter in the Chuhng area.

The protestors declared the encounter extrajudicial killing, alleging that the Lahore Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) police officials murdered two young men, Naqash and Abdul Rehman, in custody for not paying Rs1m bribe they had demanded for their release. They alleged that the families could hardly manage to pay Rs150,000 as bribe to the CIA officials but they later murdered them in a fake encounter for not paying the demanded amount.

“I gave Rs150,000 to the CIA police official, Rana Akram, in the presence of some witnesses when my son was in his custody,” an elderly man told the media persons.

In the video statement, he said his son was in CIA custody for the last two months and then the police sent him to jail.

Meanwhile, he added, he met Rana Akram through a lawyer, Shahid, and negotiated with him for the release of his son.

Akram demanded Rs1m from him and the lawyer offered him Rs200,000 to involve his son in a petty case, the old man said and added that he paid Rs150,000 to the CIA police and Rs50,000 to the lawyer. Even after getting money, the elderly man alleged, the CIA police brought his son out of jail and shot him dead near his residence in Green Town along with another suspect, declaring them notorious robbers.

He claimed that the CIA took the bodies of the both the victims to the Chuhng area and declared later that they had been murdered in a police encounter.

The elderly man claimed to have a video footage of the CIA police when they brought his son in custody to his home a few hours before his murder in the staged encounter.

Another man alleged that the CIA officials, including Rana Akram and Younus, had got Rs100,000 from him for the release of his son who was still in his custody and feared that they would also kill him in a fake encounter.

A young man, who was among the protesters, claimed that his brother, Danish, and his friend, Shahid, were also in the CIA police custody and feared that the police officials would kill them in an encounter.

The protesters appealed to the police higher-ups and the Punjab government to take notice of the extrajudicial killings and take action against the CIA police officials involved in the incident.

They blocked the road for traffic for many hours before dispersing. They warned to expand agitation if their demand was not met.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2022