Faisalabad man gunned down by police for not stopping at checkpoint

At least four policemen have been arrested in Faisalabad for killing a man and injuring three others after they fired at a vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint in Dijkot area of the city.

The family of the deceased says that Waqas Ahmed was on his way back from a wedding on Wednesday when the police team on a patrolling duty stopped their car.

There are conflicting reports about what transpired at the checkpoint. Waqas’s cousin says that the deceased had stopped at the checkpoint and answered police’s questions, but policemen still chased him and gunned him down.

However, a police report claims that Waqas “mistakenly” ran over Sub-Inspector Shahid Rasool’s foot and sped away from the check-post in panic. The police officers chased the vehicle and intercepted them in no time. They then pulled out Waqas from the vehicle and shot him multiple times. They even slapped Ahmed after he had passed away as well, his cousin told a media outlet.

The three men accompanying Waqas were taken to an unknown location, but they were released after the Faisalabad police chief intervened. Police claim Waqas was killed in an exchange of fire following his failure to stop on the checkpoint.

Meanwhile, the relatives of Waqas organised a protest on Samundri Road and set tyres on fire. Following this, the Faisalabad CCPO took notice of the incident and launched an inquiry. Ahmed’s body has been sent for a post-mortem examination while the three other men have been sent back home.

Last month, five officials of Islamabad Police were arrested for killing 21-year-old youth, Usama Satti, in cold blood near Srinagar Highway, G-10 sector in the federal capital. According to reports, shots were fired from the front and hit Satti mostly on the face and upper body.

The policemen were subsequently dismissed from the service after a probe.