The Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice ordered the Punjab Police inspector general (IG) on Tuesday to ensure action according to the law against senior policemen responsible for the fake encounter in Nishtar Colony.
The chief justice issued the order while disposing of the petition of Seema Bibi, the mother of Constable Asif Bhatti, who is in jail along with other policemen on charges of conducting a fake encounter. The petitioner had requested the court to declare the DIG Investigations and Lahore capital city police officer (CCPO) responsible for the fake encounter and include their names in the FIR as the accused because they had passed orders for the encounter. Petitioner’s counsel Aftab Bajwa stated that the subordinate policemen were not responsible for the fake encounter because they had simply carried out the orders of their superiors. The petitioner requested that a fresh investigation of the case be ordered and a DIG be entrusted with the task.
Bajwa argued that Shahbaz Butt was actually killed by Nishtar Colony Station House Officer (SHO) Naveed Akmal and Investigation In-Charge Zulfiqar Warya but they had not been named as accused in the case. He said constables Asif and Qadir had only fired shots in the air on the SHO’s orders. He stated that encounter was held on orders from the CCPO and he was responsible for Butt’s murder. The counsel produced mobile phone records of the policemen present on the scene and claimed that the CCPO and other high-ups were in contact with them when the boy was killed. He said the SHO was not even interrogated because he was a relative of an additional IG.
