Pakistan sacks regional military chiefs
June 14, 2011
The supreme court demanded on Friday that the government remove within three days Major General Ijaz Chaudhry, head of the paramilitary in Sindh province, and Sindh police chief Fayyaz Leghari, over the killing. The court also appointed a senior police officer to investigate the killing and ordered a district court to complete the case within a month.
Six paramilitary soldiers to be tried
Military spokesperson, Major General Athar Abbas said in a statement, "In compliance with supreme courts orders Major General Aijaz Chaudhary, Director General Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) has been posted out." Police have arrested six paramilitary soldiers who will be tried in an anti-terrorism court in connection with the killing, officials said. The soldiers were remanded into police custody for two days on Monday along with a civilian named Afsar Khan.
Security forces shot dead Sarfaraz Shah, around 22 years of age, in a Karachi park on Wednesday last week over robbery accusations. His family has demanded justice, insisting he was an innocent student. The Rangers staff were named as Shahid Zafar, Mohammad Afzal, Bahadur Rehman, Manthar Ali, Liaquat Ali and Mohammad Tariq. Khan was seen dragging the victim over to the paramilitary personnel in television footage and accusing him of robbery.
Video of victim causes outrage
Widely aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven man wearing black trousers and a navy shirt pleading for his life as a soldier cocked his rifle at his neck, then shot him twice in the hand and thigh. The video caused extensive public outrage. The incident mirrored the killings last month in the southwestern province of Baluchistan of five unarmed Chechens, one of them a pregnant woman.
DPA, Afp