Lahore: A Pakistani court on Tuesday remanded
four policemen, including a senior officer, to police custody
for six days in connection with the killing of a youth in a
"fake encounter" in this eastern city.
Judicial Magistrate Anwarul Haq Alvi granted the
physical remand of Deputy Superintendent of Police Riasat Ali
Javed, Sub-Inspector Riaz Ahmed and constables Muhammad Qadir
and Muhammad Asif.
The four policemen allegedly shot and killed Shahbaz
Butt, 23, in a staged gun battle on Friday.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Ijaz Chaudhry has
taken suo moto notice of the incident and directed the Punjab
Police chief to conduct an inquiry and arrest those
responsible.
This was the third instance of an extra-judicial
killing by law enforcement agencies in the country in less
than 20 days.
Five foreigners were killed by police and paramilitary
forces in Quetta last month while an unarmed teenage youth was
shot and killed by paramilitary troopers in a park in Karachi.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Major (retired)
Mubashirullah conducted an inquiry into Shahbaz Butt?s killing
in Lahore and declared the incident a "staged encounter".
He said police had arrested Butt while he was
attempting to rob two people in Nishtar Colony.
Following this, four policemen were arrested on
charges of killing Butt. A criminal case was registered
against them yesterday. The inquiry did not find any record of
Butt's involvement in other crimes.
Mubashirullah told reporters that according to the
statements of witnesses and two robbery victims, Butt was
captured while robbing a medical store at Yohannabad in
Lahore.
Butt was allegedly killed by policemen who took him
into custody.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 20:58