PESHAWAR, July 5: A bench of the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday declared illegal the acquittal of two police officers accused of killing a boy in a fake encounter.

The bench, comprising Justice Ijaz Afzal and Justice Raj Mohammad Khan, accepted a writ petition filed by Parwara, mother of the boy, Said Rehman alias Sadare.

The bench sent the case back to the trial court for a fresh trial.

The FIR against the two police officers — Mathra police station SHO Jamrud Khan and ASI Hastham Khan — was registered on an order of the high court.

However, the inquiry officer exonerated them from the charges under section 169 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and they were acquitted by the Anti-Terrorism Court on Jan 21.

The petitioner’s counsel said the report of the investigation officer was based on mala fide intentions and he had tried to help his colleagues.

He alleged that police had killed the boy in a fake counter, claiming that he was an outlaw. However, he added, that it was proved later that the boy was innocent.

He prayed the court to declare the acquittal of the accused police officers illegal.

Police had killed the boy on Feb 22, 2003, in Patwar Payan in the Mathra area, following which enraged people of the area had killed three police officers.

An FIR of the killing of the policemen had been registered against relatives of the boy but the boy’s mother had to move the court to file her case.