LAKKI MARWAT: Six police officials, including a station house officer (SHO) at the Bargai police station, were charged on Saturday with the murder of four young boys in the Bakhmal Ahmadzai area of the district.

Marwat-Bitanni Tehreek activists, local residents, and the families of the deceased staged a daylong protest after the incident, which took place on the evening of October 25 within the boundaries of Tajori police station. At Malang Adda point, the demonstrators blocked traffic on the Peshawar-Karachi highway and called for the filing of a criminal case against the relevant police officers.

After the incident, Tajori police registered an FIR against the deceased boys, declaring them robbers. The complainant, SHO Inayat Ali Shah of the Bargai police station, stated that he and a police party set up a temporary checkpoint close to the Bakhmal Ahmadzai police post after learning about robbers’ movements on Tajori road.

He claimed that the police officials saw some suspects on three motorcycles and gave them the signal to stop.

However, he asserted that the motorcyclists disregarded the signal and fired on the policemen with pistols.

SHO Inayat Ali Shah said the cops returned the fire in self defence, resulting in killing of three suspects namely Imdadullah, Munawar Khan and Sajjad. “Another suspect identified as Amanullah, who was injured in the exchange of fire, died during treatment at the hospital”, he maintained.

The day long agitation by villagers against the killing of four boys prompted the District Police Officer Taimur Khan to take notice of the incident and he ordered a thorough inquiry into it.

The inquiry report proved that SHO Inayat Ali Shah and five constables—Hanifur Rehman, Hidayatullah, Bilal, Wahabullah, and Osman—had killed four young boys, Sher Gul Alam Khan, a resident of Bachkan Ahmadzai, filed a formal complaint with Tajori police.

The DPO confirmed that in the light of the findings of the inquiry report and after registration of an FIR, SHO and five other constables had been suspended from service.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2024