LAHORE: Families of the four young men killed in a police encounter in Muzaffargarh last week have demanded justice and alleged that their relatives were executed in a staged operation linked to the kidnapping of a vlogger’s father.

Police claimed that four suspects Naveed, Jamshaid, Muddassir and Saleem were gunned down during a raid in the Thal desert on Nov 22.

The operation was launched to recover Sadiq Hussain Malana, father of TikToker Muhammad Shehzad Malana, popularly known as Vella Munda.

Malana had been abducted from his home in Chowk Munda on Nov 16, while his son and daughter-in-law were in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.

Muzaffargarh DPO rejects allegations

Appealing on social media from abroad, Vella Munda had urged the chief minister to ensure his father’s safe recovery and pleaded with the kidnappers to release him. Police later conducted an operation to recover Malana and killed the four young men during an encounter, while one suspect managed to escape.

However, relatives of Saleem and Jamshaid accused police of staging a “fake encounter”. They claimed the men were arrested earlier and then killed in custody.

The families alleged that Kot Addu city and Chowk Sarwar Shaheed police stations’ SHOs were involved in the killing, and demanded a judicial commission to investigate the incident.

At a press conference on Friday, Muzaffargarh District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Ghazanfar Shah rejected the allegations, insisting the suspects were killed in self-defence after they opened fire on police.

He said the kidnappers had demanded Rs50 million ransom and were found in possession of a hand grenade. He further claimed the police had evidence of their links with banned organisations.

The DPO also presented three men who had recently been rescued from the Katcha area after being kidnapped by dacoits. He said the operation was part of the ongoing efforts to curb abductions in the region.

He said the families were levelling allegations to protect other accomplices of the kidnappers. He said the police would continue operations to arrest the remaining suspects.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2025