Hunza youth killed in ‘fake encounter’ not a criminal: Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon
No evidence has been found to suggest that Sultan Nazeer, a student killed in an alleged fake encounter earlier this week, was a criminal, The News reported Friday.
News of Nazeer’s killing came two days after a 22-year-old Islamabad student, Usama Nadeem, was shot dead by the Anti-Terrorist Squad personnel.
Nazeer was a student of BCom and used to work in Saddar.
According to the evidence collected so far, Nazeer does not appear to be guilty, Karachi Additional IG Ghulam Nabi Memon said in a media talk on Thursday.
Investigators have prepared an inquiry report saying Nazeer had no previous criminal record and was not killed during an exchange of fire with the police.
“The CCTV footage and other circumstantial evidence suggests that he was hit by a bullet while he was passing from the crime scene and policemen wrongly killed him,” Nabi said.
On the other hand, the victim’s family has expressed concerns over the pace of the investigation. Speaking to The News, Salimullah, who is an elder cousin of Nazir, said the police had not contacted him since the lodging of the FIR and his family was not satisfied with the probe.
“He [Nazir] was a scout and has been buried in his homeland with full honour,” he said, expressing disgust over the initial claim made by police that the victim was a robber who got killed in an exchange of fire with police personnel in the SITE area. “Would a robber hire Bykea [a motorbike-hailing service] to mug people?” he questioned.
He said that on January 3, he had booked from his cell phone a ride for Nazir to send him home in Garden from Metroville where the family had gathered for a Soyem (a ritual gathering) of a deceased relative. He added that he was unaware of the incident until the next day.
“On Monday, I received a call from his family that they could not contact him and he had not reached his flat since yesterday. I immediately called the Bykea rider who told me that on their way a firing incident occurred after which they got separated,” Salimullah said.
He added that after speaking to the people on the spot, he went to the SITE-A police station where the personnel on duty kept him waiting for two hours until the SHO arrived. He quoted the SHO as saying that they had “killed a robber on Sunday”.
“Soon after listening to him, I protested over his claim but the officer did not listen to me and walked away.”
He said Nazir had come to Karachi from Hunza a couple of years ago and had started a small garments shop in the Saddar area with the help of his brother. He said the victim was pursuing his B.Com degree in a private programme and possessed a good character.
“The whole Gilgit-Baltistan is in anger over what Sindh police have done,” he said, referring to the videos and pictures of Nazir’s funeral being shared on social media. “He was a boy scout, a responsible person and a social activist. Labelling him a robber is an insult to his services to society.”
Salimullah said the police were not ready to listen to their demands until the GB community in Karachi converged on the police station to lodge a protest.
“They have not been telling us anything. We must be provided with justice, it has been too much,” he emphasised.
