Cop arrested for Intizar’s murder gets bail

One of the eight policemen arrested for the murder of Intizar Ahmed was granted interim bail on Wednesday.

Inspector Tariq Rahim had submitted a bail plea to a judicial magistrate of District South and the court granted him bail till January 23 against a sum of Rs500,000. The court concerned had, a day earlier, granted police seven-day remand of Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) SHO Tariq Mehmood and the seven other ACLC cops – Ghulam Abbas, Azhar Ahsan, Fawad Khan, Danial, Bilal, Shahid.

The investigation officer (IO) had requested the court for a 14-day remand but the defence attorney argued that the court should only grant a remand for investigation in accordance with the relevant laws.

The ACLC officials have claimed in their statement that they were at Bara Bukhari Lane No 5, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA, on Saturday night when they flagged Intizar Ahmed to stop his car for a check.

They stated that Intizar tried to speed away and they fired at the vehicle’s tyres, but some of the bullets hit the occupant and he died on the spot. The ACLC officials were initially held accountable for violating the standard operating procedure as they were in plainclothes.

Met Intizar a week ago: survivor

The girl accompanying Intizar Ahmed, who was gunned down by police officials this past Saturday, has said that she had first met the deceased a week ago and that he “was like a brother” to her.

Intizar was killed after Anti Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) officials opened fire on his car in Defence Housing Authority (DHA). “I met Intizar through Salman a week ago...he was like a brother,” said the girl, Madiha Kayani, in an interview with a private news channel on Wednesday.

When asked if Salman was part of the police force, Kayani replied in the negative and said he is a “sweet innocent guy” who should not be dragged into the case investigation. Narrating the events of Saturday night, Madiha said she was with Intizar in his car when they stopped to purchase burgers.

Kayani claimed that Intizar’s friend shook hands with him, but the latter had not disembarked from the vehicle. According to Madiha, a black car then followed Intizar’s car and tried to block their path as another car and a bike arrived on the scene.

“I asked Intizar about what was going on. I was scared. Soon, they started shooting after which I tried to save myself. Only God knows how I escaped after the shooting stopped; also I swear to God I don’t know who the shooters were," she said.

Madiha said she slid out of the car once the firing had stopped and hailed a passing rickshaw. However, she had to go back to the car for her mobile phone. About the suspects, she said: “It was dark and I could only tell that there was a clean-shaven man without glasses. He’s friends with Intizar.”