KARACHI: A case was registered against Rangers personnel in Karachi's Sachal police station on Saturday over the death of a man under controversial circumstances in the custody of law-enforcers.
The FIR was registered by the father of the man identified as Mohammad Bilal. It stated that the deceased who passed away on Friday had been picked up from his residence by Rangers personnel on July 15.
The man had been detained in a joint operation by the Rangers and police following a recent gun attack on a Rangers motorcycle squad in the city's Sachal area.
He had remained in the custody of Rangers for two days before being handed over to the Sachal police, a report published in the Dawn newspaper quoted officials as saying.
Sachal police had stated that the man was handed over to them in a 'critical' condition, whereas the Rangers claimed that Bilal was handed over to the police in 'perfect' health condition and with no signs of torture on his body.
However, doctors have confirmed that electric shocks had been administered on Bilal along with other means of torture.
Also on Friday, DIG (east) Capt Tahir Naveed ordered an inquiry into the death in order to ascertain the circumstances and fix responsibility.
The DIG has tasked Malir SP Dr Mohammad Najeeb and Malir SP (Investigation) Abbas Rizvi with the probe.
Bilal’s death follows Tuesday’s shooting of an unarmed taxi driver by Rangers men in Karachi’s Gulistan-i-Jauhar locality.
The taxi driver was shot dead when he allegedly failed to stop his vehicle upon being signalled to do so by Rangers personnel. A local court in Karachi then sent a Rangers man accused in the shooting on physical remand until July 22.
Rangers troops patrol Karachi and its surroundings to combat routine ethnic, political and extremist violence in the city. Human rights activists complain that the Rangers force, established for combat and border duty, is neither equipped nor trained for civilian areas.
The paramilitary force had to face extreme public backlash in 2011 when local TV channels aired footage of Rangers personnel shooting dead Sarfaraz Shah, an unarmed civilian, at point blank range in a public park in Karachi.
A local court subsequently found one paramilitary soldier guilty of murder and sentenced him to death and handed life terms to five other soldiers and a civilian for their involvement in Shah's killing.
The case had marked the first time that a civilian court in Pakistan had sentenced to death a serving member of the paramilitary force.