KARACHI: The case of an encounter at a bungalow in DHA has taken a new turn after the father of the prime suspect filed an application in court, alleging that police unlawfully seized personal belongings from his house while attempting to arrest his son in a kidnapping-for-ransom case.

The applicant, Kamran Asghar Qureshi, father of Armaghan, aka Army son — said to be the prime suspect — had filed a direct complaint before the anti-terrorism court (ATC) administrative judge in Clifton.

After hearing the application, the court ordered the SHO concerned to record the statement and register an FIR if an offence was made out, while directing him to submit a compliance report before the court.

Earlier, the same court had directed the Sindh home department to constitute a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe a case, involving the shooting and wounding of two policemen during a raid.

The order was passed during the hearing of a review application filed by the investigation officer (IO), seeking the suspect’s police custody, which was once again denied by the court.

At the first hearing, the IO had sought the suspect’s physical custody. He informed the court that the abductee Mustafa Aamir’s mobile phone had allegedly been recovered from the suspect’s bungalow, along with imported illegal weapons, during a police raid.

He added that the suspect had been implicated in a case pertaining to assaulting policemen during an attempt to arrest him with a warrant. The suspect had allegedly opened fire on the police party, resulting in injuries to a DSP and another official.

However, the court rejected the IO’s request to hand over the suspect’s custody, as Armaghan had complained of police maltreatment. The decision was made after the court examined the medical report, which was submitted by the IO on the court’s direction on the same day. Two cases were registered at the Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) police station under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (attempt to murder), 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 23 (i) (A) of the Sindh Arms Act 2013.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2025