Six cops arrested for killing labourer, injuring two others

Six policemen have been arrested on charges of manslaughter a day after they allegedly killed a labourer and injured two others in Karachi’s Korangi area mistaking them to be criminals.

Attaullah Sharif, a 40-year-old father of three, was killed and his nephew and another worker were wounded in a firing incident near the Jinnah Medical College Hospital in Mehran Town late on Tuesday night. The injured were identified as Khizar Bakhsh and 23-year-old Shahzad Mumtaz.

Police had initially claimed that they had killed a criminal and wounded two of his accomplices during an exchange of fire. They had also claimed that a gang of six robbers had been looting citizens.

However, based on the statements of eyewitnesses as well as the two injured men, it later transpired that police officials had once again engaged in a fake encounter. The injured claimed they were labourers and associated with the construction sector. They said they were returning home from work when they and others fell victim to a mugging incident.

They said that after informing the Madadgar 15 police helpline, they had been waiting for the officials to show up. They added that the robbers had escaped, and that the police arrived 10 minutes after the incident.

Sanaullah, brother of the deceased, told the media outside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre that the police had arrived without sounding their siren and blindly opened fire on them while they had been searching for their valuables that they had thrown into the bushes to save them from being looted.

“The police officials opened indiscriminate fire. They also shoved a pistol in my brother’s hand and took a picture of him that way so they could declare him a criminal.” After the injured victims and eyewitnesses claimed that the police had carried out a fake encounter, the District Korangi police chief ordered an inquiry into the incident. The investigators have arrested the six policemen allegedly involved in the encounter and also seized their weapons for their forensic examination.

According to the investigating officials, four of the arrested policemen have denied their involvement in the case, while the other two are apparently involved in shooting at the victims who, the officials said, have no criminal history and are innocent.

Police have also recorded the statements of the eyewitnesses, the injured and their families. Taimur, a relative, said Attaullah had been a contactor. He claimed that even though the police have registered a case, they have not nominated the officials responsible for the encounter in the FIR.

Police said the labourers had been wounded by the bullets of firearms, but no weapons were found on the injured or the deceased. They confirmed that neither the deceased nor the injured had any criminal record.

Police claimed that the officials concerned had mistaken the victims to be criminals and shot at them near the Malir River Dam. The investigation found anomalies in the encounter, but the policemen have been arrested on charges of unintentionally killing an innocent citizen and injuring two others after mistaking them for robbers.