KARACHI, Oct 26: Four policemen were booked in a case pertaining to the murder of a man who was heading to the main cattle market on the Superhighway with his brother and children on Friday, police said.

They said that three policemen had been arrested, while the prime suspect, Constable Hingor Khan, managed to escape following the incident, which took place within the remit of the Sohrab Goth Industrial Area police check-post, near Noor Khan Goth.

The victim with his family members was riding in a pickup when they were stopped by the policemen.

According to the victim’s brother, the policemen allegedly asked for Rs100, on which Dildar Khan offered to pay Rs20. The policemen took the offer as an insult and an altercation ensued between the two parties.

Dildar Khan said he asked the driver to park the vehicle on the roadside, but the driver accelerated it. One of the policemen, Constable Hingor Khan, opened fire on the vehicle and the bullet hit Zeb Rehman, 32, the younger brother of Dildar Khan, in the head. The victim died on his way to hospital, the police said.

Following the shooting the four policemen fled the scene and some policemen even tried to portray the incident as an encounter.

When senior police officers reached the police checkpoint, they learnt that Hingor Khan had fled after depositing his AK-47 rifle at the checkpoint.

The three other policemen — Asif, Atta Mohammad and Sarfaraz — were arrested.

The victim’s brother later told the media that he, Zeb Rehman, his three sons and a relative were heading for the cattle market to buy a sacrificial animal when the policemen stopped them.

The victim’s family also protested at the Sohrab Goth police station against the killing.

However, when senior police officers were informed about the incident, an FIR (766/2012) was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Sohrab Goth police station against the four policemen, Sohrab Goth SHO Fasihuddin said.

There was no justification for the firing by the police, DIG-East Shahid Hayat said while referring to the incident.

“The firing by the policemen was totally uncalled for. They were not terrorists. They were with children going to the cattle market,” he said. Three policemen had been arrested and a case against them registered, he added.