A man was killed and two others were injured in the Raja Jang area of Punjab's Kasur district in the wee hours of Saturday after police allegedly opened fire at a private vehicle whose driver failed to oblige to being stopped.

The police have registered a first information report (FIR) of the incident on behalf of Muhammad Ashraf — the brother of slain Asghar Ali — and booked five policemen under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempt to murder), 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon) and 149 (members of an unlawful assembly being guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of a common object) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Raja Jang police station SHO Saadi Ahmed, TSI Muhammad Wasim, Sajid Ali, Shahid and Muhammad Yaqoob have been nominated in the FIR.

According to the FIR, Ali, along with four others namely Jahanzaib, Abdul Jabbar, Ramzan, and Jaffar, were travelling from Raiwind to Kasur in a car. While they were passing through Raja Jang, five policemen in an official vehicle flagged down their car, the FIR said, adding that Jahanzaib, who was driving the car, was not able to apply the brakes immediately.

Subsequently, the car moved past the police vehicle, at which the police party opened fire on the car, according to the FIR. Ali, Jabbar and Ramzan were wounded and taken to District Headquarters Hospital, Kasur, it said. However, Ali died on the way to the hospital and doctors confirmed his death upon reaching the hospital.

The police party caused immense loss by "shooting my brother, Asghar Ali, dead and injuring Abdul Jabbar and Ramzan", Ashraf stated in the FIR, appealing for justice and seeking action against the suspects.

DSP Yaqoob Awan told Dawn.com that four of the suspects had been arrested, while SHO Saadi Ahmed was on the run.

Sahiwal killings

The Raja Jang shooting brings back the memories of the Sahiwal incident from Jan 2019 when a private vehicle was targeted by law enforcement agencies, resulting in multiple innocent casualties.

The incident had led to the deaths of three members of a family — husband, wife and their teenage daughter — and their neighbour in what Punjab police officials had initially dubbed a shootout with "terrorists".

Muhammad Khalil, his wife Nabeela and their four children were travelling in a car, with their neighbour Zeeshan behind the wheel, when Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel intercepted the vehicle and opened fire on them. Later, the CTD officials claimed they had intelligence-based information that Zeeshan had links with a terrorist outfit.

Three minor children of Khalil — Muhammad Umair, Jazba and Muneeba — survived the attack with minor injuries.

On January 19, Yousafwala police had registered an FIR on the complaint of Muhammad Jalil, brother of deceased Khalil, under sections 302, 324, 337 (F1, F-A1 & F3), 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Initially, the trial was conducted in Sahiwal. However, the Lahore High Court on June 17 shifted the proceedings to Lahore, allowing an application filed by the complainant.

The suspects — namely, Safdar Hussain, Ahsan Khan, Muhammad Ramzan, Saifullah, Hasnain Akbar and Nasir Nawaz — were indicted by the trial court.

However, an anti-terrorism court had later acquitted all six personnel of the charge of killing the four victims.