Usama Nadeem murder case: Anti-terrorism court extends physical remand of five Islamabad policemen

• Physical remand of accused extended by seven days
  
• Slain youth Usama Nadeem’s father seeks inquiry presided over by a judicial panel
  
• Mother expresses anger at Prime Minister Imran Khan, says he is not forming 'Naya Pakistan' but a ‘Naya Qabristan’ in the country
  

ISLAMABAD. An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad extended by seven days the physical remand of the five policemen arrested in the Usama Nadeem murder case.

The investigating officer requested the court to remand the accused for another 12 days. The judge inquired whether the weapons used in the killing had been recovered.

The investigating officer replied that weapons have been seized from the accused and weapons and shells used in Usama's killing have been recovered.

Read more: Five members of Islamabad's anti-terror squad arrested after young man allegedly shot dead

He said a JIT has also been formed to investigate the case.

The court inquired as to how many bullets hit Usama and where. To this, the IO said that five bullets hit Usama from the back and one from the front.

The court asked if there were any bullet marks on Usama's car seat. "I didn't see that," the IO responded.

He then presented Usama's medical report in court. After this, the judge expressed his displeasure at the IO for not taking a pictures the crime scene.

The court asked if this meant that the IO is colluding with the accused.

The court summoned the accused to the rostrum and asked them to explain how the incident took place.

One of the accused said that they got a call from a Shams Colony ASI about a robbery. He said they were told to come to the Srinagar Highway where there is a white car with four people inside. The car has to be stopped, the accused said they were told on the call.

Read more: Usama Nadeem murder: Judicial magistrate approves suspects' 3-day physical remand

The judge asked the accused if anyone from the car fired at them, to which the accused responded that there was no firing at them.

The court said that Usama had a small car. "Do you not know how to stop a car? Will you shoot at the car?" the judge asked.

The court extended the physical remand of the arrested policemen for another seven days.

Parents ask CJP Gulzar Ahmed to take suo motu notice

The parents of 21-year-old Usama Nadeem have expressed their wish for Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed to take suo motu notice of the killing of their son on Saturday by members of Islamabad's Anti-Terrorism Squad. 

The parents have rejected a police inquiry into the incident and instead demanded that a judicial commission be set up to preside over an independent investigation into the killing.

Usama’s father, Nadeem Younus Satti, put forth the wish as he addressed a press conference on Tuesday. He said his son was "murdered" by the Islamabad police and the incident could not be described as an accident.

He alleged that his son was "pulled out of the car" and "shot six times in the face, legs, head and chest".

Read more: Sheikh Rasheed meets slain youth Usama Nadeem's family, vows not to spare culprits

"There are no signs of blood on the car seat," Usama's father claimed, questioning how the police could shoot someone in the leg from outside a car. 

He repeated that his son was deliberately shot dead.

"If the police were chasing him, how come there were bullet marks on the car's bonnet and windshield?" he asked, referring to a senior police official who had said that the incident occurred because of police "carelessness".

"It was nothing but murder," the victim's father said, demanding that the accused police officials be hanged.

"The Supreme Court must take suo motu notice of the killing," he said, adding that a fair trial must be conducted as soon as possible.

Usama’s mother meanwhile criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and said he was not forming a 'Naya Pakistan' but a ‘Naya Qabristan’ (Graveyard) in the country.

“The prime minister should either gun us down or provide us justice,” she said.

“We are hopeless because the government is lying to us at every step. My son was a friendly boy, but the Islamabad police snatched him [from us],” she said.

She claimed that the police were changing their statement time and again and appealed to the Supreme Court for justice.

The incident

Five members of Islamabad Police's Anti-Terror Squad were arrested on Saturday after Usama was allegedly shot dead by them while he was travelling in his vehicle.

According to police, Usama was shot on Islamabad’s Srinagar Highway in the early hours of Saturday reportedly after he ignored police warnings to stop.

An Islamabad Police spokesperson had said that police were acting on a tip-off about a robbery attempt in Shams Colony. When the anti-terror squad reached the locality, they spotted a "suspicious vehicle" with tinted windows and asked it to pull over. When the driver failed to comply, the police chased the vehicle and shot at its tires.

“Unfortunately, two bullets hit the driver,” the spokesperson had added.

Usama's body was then taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for a post-mortem. Waqas Khawaja, a PIMS spokesperson, had said the autopsy revealed the young man was in fact shot six times — in the chest, back, and head.

Khawaja had added that the shots were fired from the front, casting further doubt on the veracity of the initial police report regarding the incident.