Quetta police officer forgiven by family of blasphemy suspect

The family of slain blasphemy suspect Abdul Ali has forgiven the Quetta police constable who killed him last week while he was in custody.

The police officer had accessed the police station by pretending he was his relative before opening fire on him.

Abdul Ali’s family spoke to the media along with the chief of the Nourzai tribe Haji Faizullah Nourzai who stated, “The family and tribe have nothing to do with the dirty act of blasphemy committed by the suspect.”

The family condemned the slain suspect for alleged blasphemy, saying, “We never hesitate to render our lives in the honour of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).”

“We have pardoned the police official Saad Muhammad Sarhadi in the name of Allah and unconditionally so,” the family said, adding that they would not fight a case against the police official in any court of law.

Senator’s solidarity with the policeman

Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Pakistan’s senator Abdul Shakoor Khan expressed solidarity with the policeman during a Senate meeting, saying that he would bear all his legal expenses.

“The police officer shot him because he expressed distrust in the legal system,” the senator said. “It is wrong in terms of Shariat and the law.”

“I don’t blame the police official, I blame the legal system,” he said further adding that “we will not tolerate anyone issuing blasphemous remarks against the Holy Prophet”.

Those accused, who should be hanged within 10 hours, undergo trials for months,” Senator Khan opined while speaking on the floor of the upper house.

Previously, it was reported that a policeman in Quetta shot dead an elderly man accused of blasphemy inside a lockup of the Cantt police station.

Abdul Ali, a hotel owner, was detained by the Kharotabad Police after a video went viral on social media on Wednesday and a case was registered against him under Section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

As per the FIR shared by activist Faraz Pervaiz, Abdul Ali was seen speaking in his native language in the video, allegedly making objectionable remarks about Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (finality of prophethood) and the Holy Prophet (PBUH) went viral.

A case was registered against him following the video’s circulation.

Post his arrest, a large number mob gathered outside the Kharotabad police station, demanding that he be handed over to them. The videos of these clashes also went viral on social media.

A senior Quetta police officer told the BBC, “Khorotabad police station was unsafe due to the presence of a large number of protesters, so the accused was transferred to Cantt police station.”

There, a police constable fired at and killed Abdul Ali inside the station.

The cop “suddenly opened fire on the suspect who was in the police lockup,” Inspector General Police Balochistan Moazzam Jah Ansari told Dawn, adding that he used his own pistol.

Reports indicate that the police constable has been identified as Syed Khan Sarhadi by social media users but Dawn reports his name to be Saad Sarhadi, who was arrested, and an investigation is ongoing.

The police stated that instead of transferring Abdul Ali’s body to the civil hospital, the concerned police surgeon had been called to a safe place for post-mortem.

Social media is flooded with videos of locals not allowing the burial of the accused in the cemetry while also coming in to congratulate the father of the policeman who killed Abdul Ali.

It is the first incident of its kind in Quetta, where a serving police officer gunned down a suspect of blasphemy charges while in custody.