A district magistrate on Monday sent Ghulam Azad, one of the suspected robbers in the Gizri encounter case, on a 14-day remand after he was produced before the court.
Judge Noor Mohammad Kalmati remanded the suspect in police custody till January 15 and ordered that a report be submitted on the next hearing after completion of the investigation.
Police on Sunday registered two first information reports (FIRs) against the suspected robbers, one of whom was shot dead in the ‘encounter’. The special duty magistrate had given a one-day remand of the accused.
Zakaria, 25, was shot dead and Azad wounded in a shootout with a police team in Gizri area on Friday. However, Zakaria’s family and Azad claimed that the shootout was fake and orchestrated by the police.
Zakaria’s family rejected the police’s claims, alleging that he was killed for ‘cash’ and the two ‘precious mobile phones’ he was carrying.
Zakaria’s grandmother, Hafeeza, told media persons that he and his friend had gone to meet someone near the Teen Talwar area of the metropolis. “Zakaria was killed because his CNIC mentioned his residential address of Lyari,” said Hafeeza.
However, Gizri Station House Officer (SHO) Latif said that Zakaria and Azad were fleeing on a motorbike after committing a robbery on Khayaban-e-Rahat in Defence area when they were intercepted by the police near Gizri. “Zakaria was killed and Azad was wounded in the (ensuing) encounter,” maintained the SHO. He said that two pistols were also seized from the two suspects. The police also claimed to have recovered three snatched mobile phones from them.