KARACHI - The station house officer (SHO) accompanied by a police party was booked and arrested in a murder case registered against his own police station after the death of a young man who died under mysterious circumstances in the police custody in Karachi.

SHO of the Taimuria police station Chaudhry Tufail and at least four of his police party personnel were booked and arrested following an alleged custodian death of a young man, namely Bilal, who according to police officials concerned was a street criminal and arrested in an injured condition after an exchange of fire in Taimuria area on Friday. The suspect, Bilal, however, was later died under mysterious circumstances in a police custody at a lockup of the Taimuria police station. Following his mysterious death, a score of his family members, relatives and friends gathered outside the Taimuria police station and staged a protest over the custodian death of their loved one and also demanded a strict action against the policemen.

An FIR No. 50/19 under Sections 302/34 (murder) was registered at the Taimuria police station on behalf of victim’s brother, namely Bilawal Humayun against SHO Chaudhry Tufail and his police party. “The police kidnapped me and my brother from Hyderi area,” the complainant claimed. The policemen later dropped me on super highway and shifted his brother to unknown location and finally came to know about his arrest in a fake encounter through private television channels.

Victim’s brother narrated before the police  high ups that first we rushed to hospital to inquire about his health but police took him to the police station.” The brother who is also a complainant in a case further said that the policemen were demanding bribe and frequently torturing his brother when the family reached police station which caused of his brother’s death.

The police following his arrest had earlier claimed that they arrested him while declaring a street criminal in injured condition after an exchange of fire. The police officials concerned while defending themselves said that the suspect died of cardiac arrest caused by low blood pressure while rejecting the claim that bullet injuries resulted in his death.

Twenty-one-year old Bilal was claimed to be arrested by Taimuria police in a wounded condition following a shootout on the night between Thursday and Friday died under controversial circumstances on Saturday. According to doctors at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the injured person was first brought by the police to the hospital and they took him back after initial medical treatment, however, he was brought to the hospital again late on Friday night as his condition worsened during police custody and died during treatment. A postmortem has been conducted while the investigators were looking for the report to ascertain the actual cause of death.

Leaders from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf also joined them and strongly condemned the incident demanded an immediate registration of a murder case and arrests of the policemen responsible including a police station chief. The protesters also shouted slogans against the incident and police. “The black sheeps in the police department are killing people and no one would be given license for the extrajudicial killing,” PTI leader Haleem Adil Shaikh said while talking to the media during a protest. 

Following the protest over the controversial killing, additional IG Karachi Dr Amir Shaikh immediately took a notice and appointed Zone West police chief DIG Amin Yousufzai as an inquiry officer of the case and ordered him to probe into the mater.