Five police officers indicted in Usama Satti murder case

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad has indicted five police officers, accused in the Usama Satti murder case.

The 21-year-old student was killed on January 2 when the Islamabad police personnel opened fire at him for not stopping his car near Sector G-10.

At a hearing on Friday, the suspects were presented in court amid tight security. The men, identified as Mudassir, Shakeel Ahmed, Muhammad Mustafa, Saeed Ahmed, and Iftikhar Ahmed, denied the accusations.

The court has decided to begin the case trial on October 27 and summoned all the suspects in court. Out of the five men, four are in jail. One of the police officers was granted bail.

The case

Usama’s family said that the 21-year-old was coming back after dropping a friend to university when the policemen opened fire at his vehicle. “He was shot just for not stopping his car,” the victim’s father said in a video statement.

His parents filed a complaint against the police officials demanding action be taken against them immediately.

Following this, five officers of the Anti-Terrorism Squad were arrested. A Joint Investigation Team has been formed by the Islamabad chief commissioner to investigate the killing. The JIT is being headed by Saddar SP Sarfaraz Virk and will include representatives from the ISI, MI, and IB as well as the Ramna DSP, Investigation DSP, and Ramna SHO.

Last week, the accused police officers were sacked from their jobs. Cases under sections 302 (murder), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offense committed in prosecution of common object) of the Pakistan Penal Code have been registered against them at Islamabad’s Ramna police station.

The police claimed they had received news of a dacoit escaping in a white car. “The policemen asked the man to stop the car but when he didn’t, they opened fire at him,” a police officer had said, claiming that two bullets hit him.

A medical report by the PIMS Hospital revealed, however, that six bullets hit the victim, while 17 were fired. The bullets hit him in the face, chest, neck, and head.

The Islamabad Operations DIG formed teams to investigate the matter. The CCTV footage was being obtained and evidence from the crime scene was collected, according to the police.

Victim’s father claims police killed Satti

In a press conference on January 5, Usama’s father said that his son was “murdered” by the Islamabad police and it was not an accident.

“How can they [the police] shoot someone in the leg from outside the car,” the victim’s father questioned, reiterating that his son was deliberately shot dead.

Nadeem noted that if the police were chasing him, how come there were bullet marks on the car’s bonnet and windshield.

He quoted a senior police official as saying that the incident occurred because of the “carelessness” on the police’s part. “It was nothing but a murder,” the victim’s father said.

He demanded that the accused police officials be hanged to death. “The Supreme Court must take a suo motu notice of the attack,” he said, adding that a free trial must be conducted as soon as possible.