SHO, ASI held for killing youngster during police raid in Tandlianwala

TANDLIANWALA: A station house officer (SHO) and an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) were arrested on Sunday after they allegedly killed a youngster at his home during a raid to nab his brother in Tandlianwala town of the Punjab province, ARY NEWS reported.

A first information report (FIR) into the police encounter was registered against eight police personnel of the Saddar police station including SHO Ilyas and a sub-inspector.

According to the details in the FIR, a raid was carried out by the Saddar police in search of a theft accused Sarfaraz and as soon as the police party entered his house by breaking the front door, his brother scared of the police action tried to run away.

The police personnel opened fire on him to badly wound the youngster. The FIR said that instead of taking the accused to the hospital, they waited for one and a half hour and then left him outside a Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) hospital in a critical condition.

He later succumbed to his injuries.

The SHO and the ASI were arrested for their involvement in killing an unarmed man during the raid and further investigation into the case is underway.

In October previous year, Punjab government filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) against the acquittal of suspects in the Sahiwal encounter case, which saw four people allegedly gunned down by Punjab Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in early 2019.

In a petition filed in LHC, Punjab govt maintained that either the investigation of the case went in the wrong direction or the witnesses changed their statements.

The Punjab government approached the LHC after Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed provincial govt to challenge the ATC’s decision.