Accused in Umarkot blasphemy case killed in fake police encounter: Provincial Minister

Province Sindh Interior Minister Ziaul Hassan Al-Najjar has said on Thursday that Umar Kot Blasphemy Dr. Shah Nawaz, the accused in the case, is fake The police Killed in the encounter.

While giving a press conference in Karachi, Zia-ul-Hassan-ul-Najjar said that in the Umarkot incident, the policemen were accused of a fake encounter. When the allegation was proved true in the inquiry, the officials were suspended.

According to Zia-ul-Hasan-ul-Najjar: ‘I had given orders to complete the inquiry into the Umarkot tragedy as soon as possible.

“A detailed inquiry was conducted, CCTV and vehicle trackers were also used. The incident report is 31 pages long.”

According to him: ‘Police fake contest, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and subordinate staff are involved in one way or the other.’

According to the inquiry report, the body of Dr. Shahnawaz was burnt in the presence of the police.

He said that we are ordering an FIR against the involved officers. People’s Party is a democratic government.

The committee has given findings that the victim’s family should file a case. If the family members do not file a case, the government will become a party.

Before his press conference, this inquiry report was submitted to the Sindh government.

This report was submitted to the Sindh Chief Minister by police officers comprising DIG Hyderabad Tariq Razak Dharijo and DIG Shaheed Benazirabad Pervez Chandio, SSP Shiraz Nazir Abbasi.

After receiving the inquiry report, the report was considered in the meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House and the Sindh Chief Minister decided that the Interior Minister should hold a press conference on the report and inform the public about it.

When did the alleged blasphemy incident happen?

The news of alleged blasphemy by Dr. Shahnawaz came on social media last Tuesday, after which protests were held in many areas of Umarkot while a shutter down strike was also held against the incident on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the police registered a case against the accused under Section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code in the presence of the imam of the local mosque.

According to the former assistant superintendent of police of Mirpurkhas, Captain (retd) Asad Ali Chaudhry, Dr. Shah Nawaz died in a police encounter on the night between September 18 and 19.

According to the police, when the body was taken to their village Jahanro, the angry people there did not allow the ambulance carrying the body to enter the village. After which the angry mob allegedly tried to burn his body.

Who was Dr. Shah Nawaz?

Dr. Shah Nawaz was an 18th grade civil servant at Umarkot Civil Hospital. He was fired by the hospital’s MS after the lawsuit.

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Speaking to Independent Urdu after the alleged police encounter, former Assistant Superintendent of Police Mirpur Khas Captain (Rtd) Asad Ali Chaudhry, who was suspended, told Independent Urdu that ‘this incident took place within the limits of Sindhri police station of Mirpur Khas district. ‘

According to Captain (retd) Asad Ali Chaudhry: ‘When the police of Sindhri police station reached the police picket after a routine patrol, two armed men on a motorcycle started firing on the police party.’

He said that in the retaliatory fire of the police, one accused was injured and another died. The accused who died when the body was shifted to the hospital was identified as Dr. Shah Nawaz, the named accused in the blasphemy case.

When the Assistant Superintendent was asked about the details of the accused injured in the police firing, he replied: ‘I do not know the name of the accused and where he is now.’

Contents of the investigation report

According to the police investigation report received by Independent Urdu: When the case was filed after the blasphemy incident, the pressure was increasing on the police due to the ultimatum from the public to arrest the accused within 48 hours.

The report said that on the night of September 17, after SSP Umar Kot got the location of the accused’s mobile phone in Matiari, a team was formed to arrest him. However, the report did not clarify who obtained the phone location of the accused from his family members.

Arrest team left for Matiari district and help was taken from phone locator team of Shaheed Benazirabad district. But later it was found that the location of the accused is Karachi.

According to the report, the arresting team reached Karachi after the location of the accused was traced in Karachi. On reaching Karachi, the team found the location of accused Shah Nawaz first in Garden and later in Sadar. But by then the accused’s mobile was switched off. After which the location of another phone number of the accused was first seen on Tariq Road but later the phone was switched off. After which the police team went to Baghdadi police station in Lyari.

According to the report, the accused came on social media at 2 am that they are staying in a hotel. On which the team checked the status of the accused through ‘Hotel i App’ and according to the app, it was confirmed that the accused had stayed in several hotels in Lyari in the past. Most of them were located within the limits of Baghdadi Police Station of Hotel Lyari. But none of these hotels had the entry of the accused that night.

According to the report, the team selected a hotel from the ‘Hotel i App’ as accused Shahnawaz had booked a room in the same hotel in February 2024. When the police team showed the photos of the accused to the hotel management, the hotel management confirmed that they had booked a room in that hotel. After which the team showed the video of the accused on social media that night, Sanaullah, an employee of the hotel, said that this video was from a nearby hotel.

According to the report, the team reached the said hotel, where the room booking entry was made by the accused. On which the team started checking each room and knocked on the door of room number, accused Shah Nawaz opened it and Sub Inspector Sattar identified him and introduced himself and agreed to accompany the police to Umarkot.

According to the report, at 4:25 PM Shahnawaz was detained and a cloth was put on his face and the news of the arrest was given to SSP Umarkot, on which SSP Umarkot instructed to take the accused. I left for Umarkot.

According to the report, when the police reached Hyderabad, SSP Umarkot ordered the sub-inspector that the situation in Umarkot is very critical, it is not safe to take the accused Shahnawaz there, so the accused should be handed over to the Mirpur Khas police.

The investigation report said that when the team reached Mirpurkhas with the accused, SSP Umarkot asked the team to stop at the Jamrao police post so that the accused could be handed over to the Mirpurkhas police. A white colored Vigo arrived there with police officials and Shahnawaz was handed over to them and the team left for Umarkot.

But the report did not mention who was part of the Mirpurkhas police team, which arrested the accused.

According to the investigation, a review of the CCTV cameras of the Mirpur Khas toll plaza revealed that the SSP Mirpur Khas official vehicle passed there at 9:19 am and returned at 9:30 am. Meanwhile, no other police vehicle arrived, so it is obvious that Dr. Shahnawaz was taken into custody in the official Vigo vehicle of SSP Mirpur Khas.

At 10:50 p.m., CIA left Mirpurkhas with Dr. Shah Nawaz and stopped at Sabzal stop at 12:18 p.m. on September 19, where SHO Sindhri Inspector arrived with his staff and at 12:20 p.m. Dr Shah Nawaz was killed in a pre-arranged encounter with the police.

According to the report, the police found an identity card, a mobile phone and one thousand rupees in cash from his pocket.

According to the report of the committee, the body of Dr. Shah Nawaz was shifted to Civil Hospital Mirpur Khas at 1:20 PM. After the postmortem, the body was sent to Umarkot in an ambulance. When the ambulance with the dead body reached Dr. Shahnawaz’s village Jahanro, the angry people reached there and did not allow the ambulance to enter the village.

After that, the body was placed in a private car and sent to the deceased’s family land. When the body reached the village, the angry people gathered and in the presence of the police set the body on fire after which the family members and the police buried the half burnt body.

According to the detailed police report, the next day on September 19, a large number of people gathered at the office of DIG Mirpur Khas and SSP and hailed the police officers as heroes for the death of Dr. Shahnawaz.

Condolences to the family of Dr. Shah Nawaz

On September 22, hundreds of people from different cities of Sindh, including nationalist leaders, social workers and Sufi artists, reached Dr. Shah Nawaz’s village Jahinro.

He recited Fatiha along with the family of Dr. Shah Nawaz and found out the details of the incident.

After that, everyone reached the burial site of Dr. Shahnawaz’s half-burnt body, where people offered funeral prayers in absentia and prayed.

On this occasion, Sufi singer Manjhi Faqir also sang Sufi verses, while people showered flowers and offered ajrak on the grave.

Last day too, thousands of people including women took out a rally in Umarkot and protested at the Press Club and demanded that the officers involved in the fake police encounter be punished.