Intizar’s father accuses SSP of involvement in murder

The father of Intizar Ahmed, the 19-year-old boy who was gunned down in the upscale Defence locality on the night of January 13, accused SSP Muqaddas Haider on Monday of being involved in the murder, reported Geo News, as the case was transferred to the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).

Ishtiaq Ahmed, the father, claimed that there were two people, namely Madiha Kayani and Salman, accompanying his son at the time of the incident and that they were also involved in the murder.

Both of them know everything, he said, adding that Salman had introduced Intizar to the girl who had taken him to the site of the incident. The father said Haider’s guards had opened straight fire on his son, while the guard standing on Madiha’s side of the car carried out only aerial firing.

South DIG Azad Khan said Haider would be made part of the investigation if any evidence was found against him. He said police had recorded Madiha’s and Salman’s statements. The girl will be accorded no special consideration just because she is the daughter and niece of police officials, he added.

CTD gets the case

The investigation of the Intizar Ahmed murder case is being handed over to the CTD, according to an official notification. The investigation team will be headed by CTD DIG Amir Farooqi, stated the notification.

Intizar’s father, during his meeting with the Sindh police chief, had expressed lack of confidence over the ongoing investigation. Police had earlier maintained that the young man was killed by unidentified assailants on motorcycles.

However, it was later disclosed that Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) officials had opened fire on his car after he failed to stop his vehicle despite their instructions. Sindh police authorities have already removed Haider from his post. A notification had confirmed that the ACLC chief was transferred and directed to report to the Central Police Office with immediate effect and until further orders. The ACLC officials booked in the murder case had been deployed for Haider’s security.

Owing to the spotlight on the case, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had ordered a judicial inquiry into the murder. During a conversation with the father, the chief executive said an inquiry would be conducted according to the family’s wishes.

Earlier, the South DIG had told Geo News that the investigation was under way but it would be premature to declare the incident “a premeditated murder”. Responding to a question regarding the presence of Haider’s guards among the policemen who opened fire, he said the guards should not have been present at that time.

Timeline of events

On January 14 a high-ranking police officer told The News that ACLC officials had claimed in their statement that they were at Bara Bukhari Lane No 5, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA Phase-VII the previous night when they asked Intizar to stop his car.

They claimed that when the man tried to speed away, they fired at the vehicle’s tyres, but some of the bullets hit the occupant and he died on the spot. On January 15 police recorded the statement of a girl who claimed to be in the car with Intizar minutes before ACLC officials opened fire on the vehicle.

The girl, who remained unhurt and escaped the shooting site, told police that plain-clothes men carrying weapons had signalled their car to stop, but Intizar tried to speed away. On January 16 Intizar’s father said he had watched the CCTV footage of the incident the previous night and on the basis of what he saw, he termed the incident a “cold-blooded murder”.

On January 17 one of the eight policemen arrested for the murder was granted interim bail. Inspector Tariq Rahim had submitted a bail plea to a judicial magistrate of District South and the court granted him bail until January 23 against a sum of Rs500,000.

On January 18 investigating officers told Geo News that two government-issued weapons were used in the fatal attack. As per the forensic tests of the eight weapons handed over to the investigation department, only two of the guns were fired at the crime scene.

On January 20 the Sindh High Court returned the provincial government’s request to hold a judicial inquiry into the murder, directing it to follow the orders already issued in such matters.