Five cops arrested for ‘killing’ youth

ISLAMABAD: Five members of Islamabad Police’s anti-terror squad were arrested on Saturday after a young man was allegedly shot dead by them while travelling in his vehicle.

The youth, identified as Usama Nadeem Satti was going back home after dropping his cousin at about 1:45am at NUST University, H-11, but ATS comprising five personnel led by an assistant sub-inspector, intercepted him, but he allegedly did not stop the car, and consequently the police gunmen chased the car and sprayed bullets. “Seven bullets hit him in different parts of his body including head and chest,” the spokesman for PIMS told The News.

The police authorities, after preliminary investigation of the case declared the innocence of the deceased student, confessing that it was the police blemish which didn’t use the other ways to stop the car but opened firing and killed the innocent young man. The statements and script of the FIR indicated that the police investigators twisted the case to hide the reality of the incident.

The post-mortem report revealed the reality and exposed the attempt to twist the case, saying that the deceased received seven bullets while the police gunmen shot 22 bullets at the car from the backside instead of aiming at the tyres.

The people engaged in the investigation claimed that the deceased was involved in criminal activities and he was booked in two criminal cases with Ramna and Secretariat police stations. Ramna Police Station lodged FIR (No. 431/18) against Usama Nadeem on October 12, 2018 under sections 9-A Narcotics Control Act and recovered six gram ice drug from his custody. Another FIR (No. 152/18) was registered on July 23, 2018, with the Secretariat Police Station under sections 420, 468, 471, 201 PPC, on the allegation of using tampered car (Honda Civic bearing registration number LW-0160).

The residents of G/13, G/14, and adjacent localities staged a protest demonstration and barricaded both sides of the Srinagar Highway.

Chief Commissioner Islamabad, Aamir Ali Ahman, ordered a judicial inquiry to ascertain real facts of the incident. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Waqas Anwar will be the inquiry officer of the judicial inquiry of the case.

Inspector General of Police (IG) Islamabad, Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan immediately ordered an inquiry committee headed by DIG Operations Waqar into the incident and directed arrest of all the five police officials involved.

The police have registered FIR u/s 148/149/302PPC and 7-ATA and all five officials namely Sub-Inspector Iftikhar Ahmed and constables Mudassar Mukhtar, Shakeel Ahmed, Saeed Ahmed, and Muhammad Mustafa have been arrested.

On the other hand, the young man’s father, in a complaint to the police, stated his son was returning home after dropping off a friend at 2:00am.

“My son was shot multiple times. They (anti-terror squad) openly committed terrorism by aiming at the windscreen instead of the tires,” he said.

The father demanded that the personnel involved be charged with terrorism.

He said that his son had informed him about a past occasion when he had had a heated exchange with some police personnel who according to Usama had “threatened him of dire consequences”.

The night of the incident, the police allegedly followed his car and then shot him, he said.

He also requested Prime Minister Imran Khan and Minister for Interior Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to take notice of the incident and provide him justice.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior Raja Khurram Nawaz, while taking notice of killing of student Osama Satti, has called an emergency meeting of the committee tomorrow (Monday).

Chairman of the standing committee has also directed federal secretary interior, chief commissioner Islamabad and IG Islamabad Police to appear before the committee.

In a statement, Raja Khurram Nawaz regretted the incident and assured the family of the deceased and traders community that there would be transparent investigations into killing of the youth. “We will reach depth of the tragic incident and culprits will be taken to task,” he said.

Reacting to the incident, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz asked: “Who is responsible for the murder of this innocent student who earns (bread) for his family by working hard at night?”

“The sanctity of human life has been violated in the last two and a half years,” claimed Maryam.

“There has never been such an insensitive government in Pakistan, like the (one in office) now,” she added.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said that a “transparent” inquiry would be conducted. “The facts will be made public.”

“Whoever is responsible will be prosecuted according to the law,” he said, adding that such incidents are traumatic for the whole society.

Furthermore, PPP Punjab secretary-general Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed said that the youth’s killing by Islamabad Police was saddening.

“The murder of the young man will prove to be the last nail in the coffin of this government,” Manzoor said, adding that whenever Shaikh Rashid enters a ministry, there is a loss of human life.