The Islamabad Police has been caught by the Interior Ministry doing what is known as a fake encounter. While the killing of a suspect in custody is heinous in itself, there are a number of levels in which this police high-handedness is magnified.
The murdered man was proclaimed as a suspect in the war on terror, raising the fear that this new excuse will be used to settle private scores. The encounter was supposedly executed to improve the reputation of the Islamabad Police and to ensure that the IGP Islamabad was retained. Such petty motives are supposed to form the root cause of the ‘encounter culture’ that has infested the police as a whole. The PM’s Office should look into the matter and must supervise the process carefully, and make sure that the Interior Ministry does not take this matter in a light vein and responds back responsibly.
KHURRAM SALEEM
Islamabad
