PESHAWAR, July 28: Five policemen, including an SHO, were arrested on Wednesday after their pre-arrest bail applications were dismissed by an additional district and sessions judge in a case of killing a student in a fake encounter.

The accused were taken into custody by officials of the Crimes Branch soon after the judge, Ahmad Sultan Tareen, had pronounced the order. The FIR against the five policemen, SHO Abdul Malik Khan, ASI Zar Wali Khan, and constables Shehanshah, Zahir Shah and Khaista Gul, was registered on the orders of the Peshawar High Court.

The court on May 11 had accepted a writ petition filed by Misal Khan, father of the deceased boy, Kashmir Khan, who was a student of Class IX. The high court had directed police to arrest the officials. The accused were booked under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Malik Haroon Iqbal had appeared for the complainant and contended that the accused policemen were directly charged in the case. He had argued that the judicial inquiry conducted by the then district and sessions judge, Ziauddin Khattak, had also proved the involvement of these officials in the murder of Kashmir Khan.

The five policemen were serving at the Bana Mari police station when the killing occurred. The complainant stated that police had killed his son and gave it the impression of an encounter.