Media Police Competitions in Punjab

 Media Police Competitions in Punjab
A police encounter was always the last option but now it has become the first option.

Abida Parveen, a resident of Chak WB 21, a village in Wahari district of Punjab, opened her eyes at around three o'clock on the night of September 16 when someone was knocking loudly on her door.

Abida got up in a panic and found that her nephew Ahmed was outside the door.

"Where is Ali, is he at home or not?" Ahmed asked Abida as soon as he entered the house and began to examine the rooms with eager eyes.

Abida Parveen, Ali's mother, was worried and asked her nephew, "What happened, why are you asking Ali?"

It was too late to complete the question that Ahmed said, "Bullets have been fired and one person has also been injured." And a Honda 125 motorcycle has also been found lying nearby.

The nephew said that the ground gave way under Abida Parveen's feet because her elder son Ali had gone to the neighboring village on his motorcycle at around 11 o'clock that night.

Abida Parveen immediately went to pray and prayed for the safety of her son Ali, but soon the news reached home that the person injured in the firing was Ali who had been injured in an alleged police encounter and the police had arrested him. She had reached District Headquarters Hospital Vihari.

Abida Parveen told the BBC that she reached the hospital with her nephew screaming. At that time it was almost 4 o'clock in the night.

Nine years ago, Abida's husband left for America and in his absence, her eldest son Ali was her only support, who besides educating her younger siblings also did farming on her land.

Ali's camp and lands are 500 meters from his village. Ali himself was married and had a nine-month-old son.

Abida Parveen told the BBC that when she arrived at the hospital, a large number of police officers were already there and, far from seeing her injured son, she was not allowed to enter the emergency ward.

According to Abida Parveen, after some time, the policemen put her son's body wrapped in a bed sheet on a stretcher and left the emergency ward, putting him in a car and leaving quickly. According to Abida, the post-mortem of her son was also done without her permission

After this operation was completed, the police registered an FIR against Ali for firing on a police party claiming that he was on night patrol and when he approached Chak No. 23/WB, four armed men. The accused opened fire on them.

According to the text of the FIR, the policemen hid behind their official vehicle to avoid firing, while the four armed men fled into the fields while firing. When the police officers chased them, the accused named Ali was found lying there injured by the firing of his own associates.

The police claimed to have recovered an unlicensed pistol, his motorcycle and three bullets from Ali's possession.

Abida says that if my son had been shot and brought here by the policemen, they would have given him to us, we would have treated him ourselves or told us that he needed blood, we would have made an arrangement, but we were not given access to him. He went until he died.

A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, told BBC that the area where the incident took place was Manchanabad police station limits and it has to be seen on what basis the officers of Sadar police station took this action.

It is generally observed that after the death of a gangster or a criminal person in a police encounter, handing over the body to the next of kin also becomes a complicated process as no one wants to receive such a dead body.

But as soon as the news of Ali's death reached the village, hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital and started protesting against the police.

The BBC team also visited the place where the alleged police encounter took place on the night of September 16.

According to official sources, Ali died of profuse bleeding as he was rushed to the hospital for medical attention about an hour after the alleged police encounter.

The next day, when the heirs found Ali's body, there was chaos in the area. A large number of people from nearby villages took to the streets and protested against the police.

DPO Wahari Rana Shahid Pervez was immediately transferred after initial investigation of the matter by the police authorities while DSP President Wahari Saadat Ali was suspended. On the other hand, a case was registered against 10 people including all six members of the police party under other provisions including murder.

Abida Parveen's story is not limited here. Just two years ago, his 23-year-old younger son Owais (Ali's younger brother) was also shot and injured, leaving him crippled for life. Ali Liaquat's third brother Musa is only nine years old while he also has four sisters.

Abida Parveen blames the events that happened to her two sons on the influential people of the neighboring village. "Owais (younger son) was shot and crippled for life only because he was literate and forbade influential people from doing drug business in the villages," he said.