ISLAMABAD: Family members and relatives of a 25-year-old man, who was shot dead near a police picket, blocked the I. J. Principal Road on Friday, asking for the arrest of the suspects.
The protesters chanted slogans against the police and blocked the highway by putting the body in the middle of the road and setting old tyres on fire.
They also burnt down the picket where the police allegedly opened fire on the man.
A police officer told Dawn on the condition of anonymity that between 4:30am and 4:45am a rashly-driven Toyota Corolla approached the picket set up on a link road between the I.J. Principal Road and Sector I-10 from the Islamabad side.
Around three to five officials deployed at the picket signaled the driver to stop but he ignored and drive through.
Protesters burn down picket where the incident occurred
“It was then that the young man was shot,” the officer said, adding it was yet to be established if the police officials opened fire on the vehicle from the picket or after a brief chase.
The policemen deployed at the picket disappeared shortly after the incident and efforts are underway to arrest them, he added.
The victim was hit by three bullets - two in the back and one in the head.
Station House Officer (SHO) Sabzi Mandi Saleem Shah was suspended for his failure to respond on time and arrest the officials.
Police patrolling teams later reached the picket and found the officials missing.
The police later found the body of the man in a hospital. They said a woman travelling in the car with the deceased had taken him to the hospital in a taxi.