'Please take notice of Intizar's murder', father appeals to CJP in letter

KARACHI: Ishtiaq Ahmed — the father of a youth killed in an extrajudicial murder by the police — on Saturday wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, appealing to take notice of the murder and "get our family justice as your lordship is the last hope for our family".

Intizar Ahmed was killed on January 13 under mysterious circumstances when officials of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) opened fire on his vehicle on Khayaban-e-Ittehad in Karachi's Defence locality.

Owing to the spotlight on the case, Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah had ordered a judicial inquiry into the murder.

'Mercilessly, brutally murdered'

"The senior police officials are […] saving the culprits behind my son’s murder" and helping "their own subordinates" escape, Ishtiaq said in the letter to CJP Justice Saqib Nisar.

"Intizar [was] mercilessly brutally murdered in a fake or so-called police encounter conducted by the team of ACLC."

According to the father, police first claimed Intizar was shot dead by unidentified persons. However, that changed when he was made aware by the media that the killers were police officials.

"Police had not disclosed anything to me but, through media reports, I had come into the knowledge that the murder [was] committed by the ACLC officials as they were on snap checking, whereas my son […] tried to rush and escape."

Moreover, police filed the case as per their own accord, in a partial manner, Ishtiaq Ahmed claimed.

At the Darakshan Police Station, a sub-inspector "signed my statement on plain white paper and asked us to collect the FIR in the afternoon", the letter reads.

"The copy which we received is not signed by me and surprisingly wrong timing of [the] registration of crime is mentioned" in it, the father added.

CCTV footage

The closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the murder shows officers targetted Intizar and killed him, Ishtiaq wrote further, adding that the police are not investigating this case on merit and attempting to save their peers.

Intezar murder case: Investigation officer requests more time

Court adjourns the hearing until February 10

"From the perusal of CCTV footage, it is clear and vivid that my son was encircled."

Once the assailants verified Intizar's "position inside the car, he was allowed to go and, from rear side, police officials started direct firing on the vehicle of my son and few officials made aerial firing to create fear and panic so nobody may come forward to witness the terrorist activity of the police team", Ishtiaq Ahmed wrote.

The CCTV footage of Intizar's murder first surfaced on January 28 — two weeks after police allegedly shot him dead in Karachi. It shows the 19-year-old's car being intercepted by another one from the front, while a third vehicle and a motorcycle also arrive at the scene, stopping to the left of his car.

Court adjourns hearing till Feb 10

Earlier, on Saturday, the investigation officer in the Intizar murder case requested more time for proceedings from the district and sessions court South on Saturday, reasoning that he could not provide the police file, and hence, an argument in the case could not be established.

The officer further informed the court that a new Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was constituted, following which, the court ordered the file be presented accordingly and adjourned the hearing until February 10.

The court also extended the interim bail of Tariq Raheem — one of the suspects — till the next hearing.

In the case, eight suspects are under arrest, including station house officers (SHO) Tariq Mehmood, Ghulam Abbas, Azhar Ahsan, Fawad Khan, Daniyal, Bilal, and Shahid.

Speaking to Geo News the same day, Intizar's father said he appeared before the Senate’s standing committee but lamented that it did not hear his stance completely.

Ishtiaq \also mentioned that neither he nor his lawyer was made aware of the formation of a new JIT.