ATC finds 2017 police shootout with Darwesh drug cartel ‘fake’

In a three-year-old case pertaining to an alleged shootout between the police and suspected drug peddlers in the old Sabzi Mandi neighbourhood, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Saturday acquitted four people, raising doubts about the prosecution’s contention vis-à-vis the facts that surfaced during the trial.

The ATC-XII judge ordered the release of Sharifullah, who was in jail custody, Zia Bajorri and Ayoob Khan, who were out on bail, and Malik Wali, alias China, who was declared a proclaimed offender, observing that the prosecution had “miserably” failed to prove the charges levelled against them. The court, however, remained silent on the fate of Rana Ahsan, who had died during the said encounter.

The police had maintained that they had carried out a raid at Pakhtun Chowk near the pre-Partition Daulat Ram factory, which is now abandoned, in the old Sabzi Mandi area on a tip-off provided by an informer that armed members of the notorious Darwesh drug cartel were present there. They added that three police mobiles reached the spot and on seeing them, the suspects opened fire on them.

According to the police, the encounter started at around 11:30pm on January 2, 2017 and continued for at least 15 minutes, during which 24 rounds of SMGs were fired by the police and nine rounds of similar weapons were fired by the suspects, who according to the prosecution’s count were six to seven in number.

The police said Ahsan had suffered two bullets — one in the chest and the other in the arm — and fallen to the ground, while his accomplices ran away taking advantage of the narrow alleys in the neighbourhood.

They added that while the wounded suspect was being taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre in one of the police mobiles, he disclosed the names of the other suspects who had escaped.

During the trial, the court observed many irregularities in the police protocol and conflicts in the statements of the policemen involved in the case, and raised doubts over the said encounter.

The court said that contrary to the reality, the area where the incident was said to have happened was a densely populated neighbourhood, yet the police said that neither was there an independent witness who could second their claim nor was any private property or police mobile damaged during the encounter.

Moreover, the post-mortem examination report of Ahsan read that he had died around two or two-and-a-half hours before the examination, which meant that he had died at around 11:10pm, 20 minutes before the encounter took place.

Apropos to the statements of the policemen who conducted the raid, they were near the Tarbooz Ground at that time — when Ahsan had died, according to the medico-legal officer’s (MLO) report — waiting for backup.

The MLO also admitted the suggestion of a defence counsel that a person who has suffered a firearm injury to the heart and lung cannot be “capable conscious”.

The post-mortem examination report also said that the time between the injury and death was instantaneous, which made the police claim dubious that Ahsan had disclosed the names while he was being transported to the hospital.

The judge, Sohail Jabbar Malik, said in his verdict of acquittal that the court could not safely rely on the evidence of the prosecution witnesses because they were full of material contradictions.

“Furthermore, it is the duty of the prosecution to first establish its case through reliable evidence, but only the burden has been shifted on the accused.”

He directed Additional Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, chief of the Karachi police, to take strict action against the police party posted at the PIB Colony police station — Assistant Sub-Inspector Sahib Khan, police constables Sultan, Feroz Khan, Younus, Mehmoodul Hasan and Zameer Hussain, and head constables Dur Muhammad, Sohrab Khan and Younas — and submit a compliance report in court within 15 days.

The judge added that the police party that engaged in the “false” encounter should be held accountable and should not be deployed for operation duties in future.

The court also ordered that the case property — “extremely rusty” Kalashnikov and seven bullets — that the police claimed to have recovered from the deceased Ahsan should be deposited in the district armoury after the expiry of the appeal period, and if the appeal is preferred, then after its decision.