A student of the University of Sindh, who was forcibly taken from his hostel on February 10, was shot dead in an alleged police encounter on Sunday in Sukkur district.
Activists and peers of the deceased have taken to social media to raise hue and cry over the incident, while the police have claimed that the student, 25-year-old Irfan Jatoi, was part of a car lifting gang.
The alleged encounter took place on the National Highway in the limits of Jhangro Police Station. The police claimed that three of Jatoi’s accomplices escaped.
“The police received a tip-off that some outlaws have been seen…with the noticeable intent of committing a robbery,” said Senior Superintendent (SSP) Sukkur Irfan Samo.
Jatoi’s family have maintained his innocence since his abduction and had filed a petition in the Jamshoro district and sessions court a day after he was allegedly picked up by the police from the hostel.
When the police were summoned before the court, they pled ignorance about any arrest. However, the family maintained that Jatoi has been missing for three weeks and the police are demanding bribes for his release.
Reacting to the killing, Lahori academic Dr Ammar Ali Jan said that he was shocked to hear of the incident and any “silence would mean complicity” on part of the Sindh government.
Similarly, activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir said that the deceased was alleged to be a wanted criminal by Sukkur police while many on social media were saying that he had been abducted from the Sindh University premises.
He called for the provincial police chief to launch an inquiry under Section 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Nasir also called for the office of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to address the incident and “issue a statement on this encounter which has seemed to raise many questions”.
“History of encounters in Sindh is tainted with repeated abuse of power and encounter specialists enjoying undue patronage of government.”
