RAWALPINDI, Jan 24: The relatives of a suspected murderer, who died on Wednesday after exchange of fire with police, have alleged that police killed him in an encounter.

A preliminary postmortem suggested the presence of burn marks and bullet wounds on his body, and following his family’s protest against what they called a murder by the police, a judicial inquiry has been promised.

The suspect, Waheed Qureshi, was allegedly involved in the murder of six people, including four brothers, about five months ago in Gulistan Colony, and was wanted by the police. He was killed on Wednesday during a firefight with police, who, in an FIR registered with Sadar Barooni police, claimed that they saw flames coming out of the hideout from which they were being fired at. The police claimed that they retaliated with firing tear gas shells to flush out whoever was inside the hideout.

The police said that when the gunfire ended they entered the hideout and found Waheed’s body, which was burned. “We also recovered a Kalashnikov from the scene," they said.

Waheed’s family disputes these claims. His brother, Shaukat Qureshi, said, "The police arrested Waheed and then killed him, rather than presenting him in a court." His other brother, Shafqat Qureshi, also accused the police of capturing, killing and then burning Waheed's body. He also demanded of the chief justice to take notice of the incident.

"Policemen involved in the killing of my brother should be arrested and tried for his murder," he said.

On Thursday, some of Waheed’s relatives staged a protest at Faizabad and also tried to take his coffin to the Supreme Court. Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Israr Ahmed Abbasi said that the family ended the protest after it was assured that a judicial inquiry would be conducted into the incident and anybody found guilty of improper action would be brought to justice.

According to the police department, officer Azhar Hameed Khokhar has written to the sessions judge in Rawalpindi to formally request a judicial inquiry into the police encounter.