Audio of deceased labourer reveals he was shot in fake encounter

PESHAWAR: A victim of the police encounter, who later died on Saturday after sustaining bullet injuries, in an audio message before death revealed that no encounter took place but he was arrested from a hujra and was shot during custody.

“I was arrested along with three others from a bethak where I had gone to discuss a labourer job in an under-construction house. I was kept in the Inqilab Police Station and other places for several days before I was blindfolded and shot in the leg by one of the cops,” the deceased Tilawat, son of Torsam, said in an audio message sent to his lawyer and family before his death in custody.

He added that one of four people in the place was involved in crime as police had recovered stolen cellular phones from him. “We three were separated from him as we had nothing to do with anything wrong. We were taken to the office of DSP from where we were shifted to different police posts before I was shot in the leg after a few days,” claimed his audio message.

The Peshawar Police in a first information report in Rehman Baba Police Station on December 22 claimed that the accused Tilawat Shah of Achar Bahader Kilay was wounded when hit by a bullet on his leg while his accomplice Izhar escaped during an encounter.

The cops claimed the accused first opened fire on the cops patrolling the area that was returned. The superintendent of police of Saddar alleged that the accused was a criminal and was wanted by police in at least two cases. He claimed the cops retaliated only when the accused opened fire on the police party.

Family said Tilawat was later shifted to hospital after his condition worsened but died on Saturday due to lack of care and treatment.The family and villagers were angry over the tragic death and termed it police terrorism.They claimed the deceased was a labourer and had nothing to do with any crime. They said the 32 years-old has left behind three minor children.

“Even if one of the people at the place from where he was arrested was involved in any kind of wrongdoing, how can cops shoot dead another villager for someone else’s crime?” asked one of his relatives.