FAISALABAD, June 14: The local trade bodies have threatened to observe a complete strike if a case is not registered against the three people and the policemen who killed a man in a ‘staged encounter’ for taking possession of a plot. The trade bodies are the Anjuman-i-Tajiran Faisalabad, the Karyana Merchants Association, the Grey-Cloth Merchants Association and the Cotton Yarn Brokers Association.

At a news conference here on Tuesday, trade leaders Mehr Maqsood, Tariq Sajjad, Shaikh Riaz, Akram Gucha and Mohammad Islam along with a number of nazims, naib nazims and councillors alleged that a senior police official had hatched a conspiracy and used his force to grab a residential plot.

They said Tariq Sajjad had a six-kanal plot on the Canal Road while Riaz Sehgal had an adjacent plot of 12 kanals. They alleged that Riaz with the help of the police official made a plan and told the police and the area’s people that some landgrabbers had occupied his plot.

A police team, headed by an official who had no authority to command the force, along with Riaz Sehgal, Rizwan Sehgal and Shaukat Aftab surrounded the plot and opened fire injuring two people. One of the injured, Karam Elahi, later died in a hospital.

The police instead of taking an action against the accused, registered a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against the victim party which was unjustified.

They alleged that the police official who led the team declared the firing an ‘encounter’.

They said a case on the possession of the land was already in the civil court which had fixed June 23 for further hearing.

Trade representatives said they had tried their best to get a murder case registered against accused Riaz Sehgal and others, but to no avail.

They threatened if a murder case was not registered within 48 hours, they would be left with no option but to go on strike. They also demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

Meanwhile, inquiries revealed that a senior police official was responsible for the entire dispute and he had played a very negative role in tackling the situation. It was also revealed that he had received a big amount as his share from the Sehgal group to get the disputed plot vacated.

It is learnt that the Tariq Sajjad group is being forced to withdraw the names of policemen from the application moved by them for the registration of a case.