Administrative Judge of the Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATC) of Karachi on Monday remanded until June 15 six Rangers personnel among seven people for their involvement in the extrajudicial killing of Sarfaraz Shah. The investigation team, formed on the directives of the Supreme Court under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-West Zone Sultan Khwaja, produced the accused men before Justice Maqbool Baqar. The accused included six Rangers – Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, Muhammad Manthar, Muhammad Tariq, Muhammad Afzal Khan and Shahid Zafar – and Muhammad Afsar. The investigation team sought the physical remand of the accused for further interrogation in the Sarfraz Shah murder case.
The accused were brought before the court amid tight security and they were escorted by a heavy contingent of police.
Two of the Rangers booked for involvement in the killing – Khan and Zafar – are already on remand until June 15 by the lower trail court. On Sunday, the investigation team had recorded statements of the accused at the Boat Basin police station. The team has also confiscated their official arms and mobile phones. After the court’s proceedings on Monday, DIG Khwaja told the media that he would submit the challan against the accused in the next hearing.
He also said that they had amended the FIR against the Rangers personnel and added Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act to it, so the case would now be heard at the ATC as well.
The investigation team would complete the investigation in seven days and submit a challan in the apex court for further trial. Police also recovered a G3 rifle with which Shah was murdered.
Police have registered three different cases of the incident: two cases against the murdered man (one of snatching valuables from Afsar’s friend, the security guard of the park, and another of possessing an illegal weapon) and one case against the six Rangers men.
In the first case registered by the government on the compliant of Afsar, the stance was taken that the accused tried to commit a robbery, whereas the other case was registered against him for carrying an illegal weapon.
Meanwhile, the third case was registered on the complaint of the victim’s brother, Salik Shah, against the Rangers.
According to the prosecution, the young man was killed in broad daylight and the incident of his killing at the hands of the Rangers came into light when the video showing the incident was aired on news channels.
Six personnel of the Pakistan Rangers-Sindh were deputed outside the park where the killing took place.
The Rangers rounded on 22-year-old Shah in the city’s most exclusive neighbourhood of Clifton, claiming he had tried to rob a policeman’s family.
The park where Shah was shot is named after the assassinated former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, whose family home is located in Clifton.
