SSP ACLC removed from post following Intezar’s killing

KARACHI: Sindh Police authorities on Thursday removed senior official Muqaddas Haider from his post, the latest development in the case of a Karachi teenager gunned down by police officers last week. 

A notification issued here confirmed that Haider, a senior superintendent in the Anti Car Lifting Cell (ACLC), has been transferred and directed to report to the city police officer with immediate effect and until further orders. 

Sources told Geo News that Haider's removal was linked to the murder case of 19-year-old Intezar Ahmed, who was killed after ACLC officers opened fire on his car late Saturday in the upscale Defence Housing Authority area.

The ACLC officers already booked in Intezar Ahmed’s murder case had been deployed for SSP Haider’s security. 

Following the incident, officials claimed the policemen opened fire on Ahmed's car after they asked him to stop at a picket near Khayaban-e-Ittehad. "When he didn't stop the car, they opened fire on the vehicle," SSP Muqaddas Haider had initially said, according to a report in a local newspaper. 

However, CCTV footage of the incident later revealed a different picture.

The victim's father, Ishtiaq Ahmed, said he had watched the CCTV footage which showed Intizar’s car stopping after two plain-clothes men on a motorbike intercepted his vehicle. He said the men searched the car thoroughly, but when a black car arrived and an unidentified man in the vehicle signalled to the men, they got on their motorbike and rode away.

“After that, Intizar reversed his car, but two plain-clothes men on another motorbike arrived on the scene and got off the two-wheeler. One fired at Intizar from the right side of the car while the other went to the left side and started aerial firing.”

On the basis of what he saw in the CCTV footage, the father had termed the incident a “cold-blooded murder”.

Two government-issued weapons used in attack

Earlier in the day, investigation officers confirmed that two government-issued weapons were used in the attack on Intezar.

According to the forensic test of the eight weapons handed over to the investigation department, two weapons were used to fire shots at the crime scene.

Of the 18 shells found at the crime scene, 12 were fired from one pistol and six from the other weapon, said the investigation officer.

The two pistols were in the possession of police personnel Bilal and Daniyal, who used the weapons to open fire on the murdered youth, sources informed Geo News.

The other six pistols in the police’s possession were private, licensed weapons, sources told Geo.tv.

Nine police personnel were named in the incident, of which, eight are in police custody while one — Inspector Tariq Raheem — took bail from the court.

Raheem’s pistol has reportedly not been submitted to the police, said sources.

'Met Intezar a week ago' 

In a recent development in the case, the girl who was with Intezar when he was gunned down by police officers in Karachi last week, said she had met the teenager a week ago.

While talking to Geo News on the phone on Wednesday, Madiha Kayani spoke about the evening of January 13, saying she and Intezar had stopped to buy burgers before their vehicle came under attack.

The girl had said some people, who were wearing civilian clothes and looked suspicious to her, gathered around their vehicle and peeped inside.

Kayani had said she ducked when the firing started but Intezar did not respond when she called him out. After the gunshots stopped, she picked up her phone and left the site as she was struck by panic, the girl had said.

One suspect gets bail for Rs0.5 million

Additional sessions judge (South), on Wednesday, had approved the bail of ACLC sub-inspector Tariq Rahim.

Rahim, who is in custody, received interim bail until January 23 after submitting a Rs500,000 surety bond.

Investigators had said the initial forensic test of the two weapons used in the incident revealed that one weapon fired 12 rounds, while six rounds were fired from the other weapon.

Eight suspects remanded into police custody

Earlier on Tuesday, the medico-legal officer's (MLO) report was released which confirmed that Intezar had died from a single bullet wound behind his ear.

The report had also disclosed that other than the aforementioned body part, there was no mark of a bullet or torture on the body of the deceased.

Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had ordered a judicial inquiry into the murder of Intezar, a formal request of which was received by the Sindh High Court on Wednesday.