Two Khi cops booked under anti-terrorism law for ‘killing student in fake encounter’

KARACHI: A day after the killing of a 22-year-old student in Islamabad by the Anti-Terrorist Squad personnel, another controversial encounter surfaced in the country as two policemen were booked in Karachi on Monday under the murder and anti-terrorism charges for allegedly killing a young man in a fake encounter on Sunday.

An FIR No 11/21 was registered under the Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act against two policemen of the Site A Section police station at their own police station for allegedly killing a young man, Sultan Nazeer.

The case was registered on the request of Nazeer’s cousin Saleemullah against Police Constable Jahangir, who was also allegedly wounded in the said encounter, and his fellow cop Shabbir Ahmed who were accused of killing Nazeer in a fake encounter.

The complainant maintained in his statement saying that on January 3, his cousin had arrived in the Metroville area in SITE from his residence in Garden to mourn the death of a relative. Saleemullah said Nazeer booked a ride-hailing motorcycle service to get back home at 9:41pm.

The complainant said that when he came to know on Monday morning that his cousin had not reached home, he traced the number of the ride-hailing service’s motorcyclist who informed him that some policemen shot dead Nazeer on their way.

“The rider told me that the policemen opened fire on them when they reached Habib Bank Chowk in the SITE area. I managed to save my life and escaped. Then I reached the same area in the morning where a petrol station employee told me that the police had killed a robber last night,” the complainant said. “Then I reached the police station where police told me that they have had killed a robber, namely Sultan Nazeer.” Saleemullah claimed that Nazeer was not a criminal and the policemen had killed him in a fake encounter while he was returning home that day.

The case against the two policemen was registered on Monday following a protest staged by Nazeer’s family earlier in the day outside the SITE A Section police station. The family demanded action against the policemen for conducting a fake encounter.

The family alleged that the policemen falsely implicated Nazeer in a robbery and also claimed to have a seized a motorcycle from his possession despite the fact that the deceased did not know how to ride a motorcycle. The protesters said that Nazeer was a student of BCom and used to work in the Saddar area.

Following the protest, police registered a case against the two policemen, detained them and initiated investigations. An inquiry committee under the Baldia Division SP was also formed to look into the incident