A nother witness in the Sarfaraz Shah murder case identified the Pakistan Rangers personnel and a civilian involved in the extrajudicial killing of the youth on the pretext of committing a robbery.
Appearing before Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC)-I Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso, Muhammad Shahid, an employee of the former City District Government Karachi (CDGK), identified the accused persons after recording his statement on Wednesday.
Earlier, the defence counsels representing the accused, including six Rangers personnel, had submitted two applications before the ATC, seeking inspection of the crime spot and recalling the witnesses for cross-examination. Thereby, the court issued notice to the Special Public Prosecutor and adjourned the hearing until Thursday (today).
While recording his statement, CDGK supervisor Shahid said that he was at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Clifton on June 8 (when the incident took place) along with his senior officer for some renovation works.
He stated that he was busy in his work when he saw a civilian wearing a white shirt taking a boy away in the park and later handing the victim over to the Rangers personnel. “Within a short time, I heard gunfire and when I moved closer, I saw the boy, who was handed over to the Rangers, lying in a pool of blood with the Rangers and the civilian surrounding him.”
“Soon after, I left the park for home without completing my remaining work but when I reached my house, I watched the video footage in which the Rangers’ personnel were shooting the youth,” he added.
The witness stated that on June 12, he saw some of his neighbours going to the police station to record their statements regarding the case so he also reached the police station concerned, wherein he recorded his statement before the officials.
He further stated that since he had watched the clip of the incident, he had been extremely upset and has not been visiting the park.
When the court asked the witness to identify the accused, he immediately recognised the arrested suspects.
In his cross-examination by the defence counsels, Shahid stated that he has been working in the CDGK Horticulture Department and performed duties in different parks of the city but had never seen private contractor Afsar Khan – the accused civilian – at any park before.
Meanwhile, defence counsel Shaukat Ayat Advocate submitted an application of 539 CRPC (inspection of place of incident) while SM Syed Advocate filed another application of 540 CRPC (recall witnesses for cross-examination). The counsels filed the applications as they were absent on Tuesday for the cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses.
Rangers Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, constables Mohammad Tariq, Minthar Ali, Shahid Zafar, Mohammad Afzal and private contractor Afsar Khan were put on trial for murdering 22-year-old Sarfaraz Shah with common intention inside the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park in Clifton on June 8.
According to the prosecution, the deceased was killed in an extrajudicial killing by paramilitary personnel, accusing him of committing robbery.
The case was registered against the alleged accused by the Boat Basin police under sections 302, 34 and 36 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. A case (FIR 227/2011) under sections 302 and 34 PPC was lodged against the law enforcement agency personnel appearing in the video footage at the same police station on complaint of the victim’s brother Salik Shah. Later, Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 was also incorporated in the FIR.
