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| A Hindu youth was killed in an alleged police encounter in Karachi: 'If a body is lying in the house, how is marriage possible |
When there is a dead body in the house, how is it possible to perform marriage rituals here? Now they are performing the last rites of Kamal instead of Mayan at home. When Chamanlal Maheshwari was talking to me, the body of eighteen-year-old Kamal Maheshwari was being taken for last rites.
Kamal Maheshwari was claimed killed by the police in an alleged encounter on Tuesday night, following which the Maheshwari community staged a dharna outside the New Town police station in Karachi. As a result of this protest, the relevant authorities ordered an investigation into the match.
Earlier, the police had claimed that they had received information that two persons on a motorcycle had stolen a mobile phone and fled. According to the police, "one robber was killed and one was injured" in the police encounter during the chase.
After a preliminary investigation, the police registered a case of murder at the request of Kishan Maheshwari, the father of young Kamal Maheshwari.
In the case filed, the youth's father stated that his son Kamal had gone to Liyari with his friend's son Anil to collect the committee's money, from where they were returning at eleven o'clock at night. As they approached New Town, a police mobile stopped and searched them. 80 thousand rupees in cash and a 'piano keyboard' were recovered from them.
Kishan claims he called Anil inside and told his son Kamal to run. "When he ran away, he was fired upon from behind, killing my son."
According to him, the police also filed a false FIR against his sons Kamal and Anil.
Kamal's father says that the police called him on the phone and said that Kamal and Anil are locked in the police station, he should reach there, but when they reached there, the police said that his son was killed in the police encounter.
SP Investigation Tariq Mastoi told the BBC that a sub-inspector has been arrested after preliminary investigations.
"His presence was traced with the help of statements and CCTV footage, after which he was arrested and further investigation is underway."
"Wednesday was the mother of two cousins"
Maheshwari panchayat member and Kishan Maheshwari's relative Chamanlal told the BBC that both boys also had a passion for making tik tok.
On that day, there was no electricity in the area, he had also taken a flashlight with him. According to him, there was a program going on at home that day for the mothers of Kamal's two cousins, in which everyone was busy.
They claim that the police also switched off the phones of both and kept Kamal's dead body in the cold room. According to him, when we later went to the police station, we found that Kamal's death has been declared as a police encounter.
Kamal Maheshwari used to work as an office attendant. His father is a driver while his mother works at home.
According to Chamanlal, Kishan's brother's daughter's daughter was married on Wednesday, but now the wedding has been postponed.
'Extrajudicial killings, a performance tool for the police
It should be noted that this is not the first time that a youth has been killed in an alleged police encounter in Karachi. Many such cases including Naqibullah Mehsud have come to light.
Dr. Zoha Wasim, assistant professor of criminology at Warwick University and a researcher on Karachi police, says that extrajudicial killings have become so common in the police that it has become very difficult to remove this sand from the police department.
According to him, after the murder of Naqibullah Mehsud, there was a slight decrease in this trend in 2018 and 2019, but the statistics for 2021 and 2022 show that this trend increased.
According to him, the number of extrajudicial killings in the year 2021 was 53, and in 2022 the number of such killings increased to more than 100.
According to him, these are definitely less than the years 2015 and 2016 when the operation was going on in Karachi, but an increase in this trend is seen.
Zoha Wasim says that crime increases only because the state is unable to solve it politically, socially, and economically.
According to him, extrajudicial killings have now become a means of performance for the police as well.
According to him, the police report every year how many encounters took place, how many people were killed, and how many policemen were killed. According to Zoha Wasim, the police know that they will not be investigated, and that's why they do it all the more boldly.