PESHAWAR, May 11: A two-member bench of the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday ordered the local police to register an FIR against four police personnel accused of killing a boy in a fake police encounter.

The bench comprising Justice Malik Hamid Saeed and Justice Shahjehan Khan accepted a writ petition filed by Misal Khan, father of the deceased, Kashmir Khan. The court ordered that the four officials - SHO Abdul Malik Khan, ASI Shehanshah Khan and two constables Khaista Gul and Zahir Shah - should be booked under Section 302.

The officials were serving at the concerned police station Bana Mari at the time of the reported killing on May 15, 2002. The petitioner had stated that the police had killed his son and had given it an impression of an encounter. Moreover, the police claimed that the deceased was a known anti-social element Qaseem Wardak, but their claim proved wrong later on.

Two days after the occurrence, father of the deceased spoke at a press conference in which he disclosed that the killed person was not Qasim Wardak but Kashmir Khan son of the petitioner, who was a student of ninth class.

Despite repeated appeals to the high police officials no action was taken against the police officials concerned following which the petitioner filed the instant writ petition.

Advocate Ishtiaq Ibrahim appeared for the petitioner and contended that the case may be registered against the police officials involved in the cold-blooded murder of the innocent boy.

He contended that after the incident a judicial inquiry was conducted by the district and sessions judge Ziauddin Khattak in which it was proved that the police had staged a fake encounter.

Mr Ibrahim argued that the residents of a house in which the deceased had allegedly entered illegally had handed over the boy to the police when he was alive. However, he added that later on the police killed him in custody and claimed that an encounter had taken place with outlaws. The petitioner's counsel added that the deceased was a student and he was never charged in any of the case which proved his innocence.