EDITORIAL: The judicial inquiry into the killing of 21-year old student Osama Satti by an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Islamabad Police has confirmed the overwhelming suspicion that it was a case of senseless use of power, if not targetted killing as claimed by his father. Satti, it may be recalled, had received multiple wounds from bullets fired on his car by the five-member ATS while travelling on the Kashmir Highway earlier this month. Whist the incident caused countrywide uproar the police had maintained it had mistaken the car for that of a fleeing robber. Even a robber did not deserve summary execution, all the more so in view of the police team’s two initial records that show they had succeed in intercepting and stopping the unarmed young man’s car. Why then did they shoot to kill? The answer provided by the inquiry report is deeply disturbing.
After recording statements of 29 people, visiting the crime scene, examining the route of the chase, vehicle of the victim as well as wireless record footage of the Safe City Project and 15 voice recordings of the police, the inquiry officer reached this conclusion: “The officers involved in the incident were ‘trigger happy’ and swayed by their power to use guns without any control.” The report also found that after the incident the duty officer protected the perpetrators by trying to conceal the crime. Unfortunately, none of this is surprising in this country where the use of torture to extract evidence, and staged encounters routinely pass off as part of what is known as ‘police culture’. No wonder then that the police have no hesitation to resort to the gun at the smallest hint of an offense. The inquiry report has made several recommendations to improve the ATS personnel’s behavior, such as that the posting and transfer of ATS officers must be made only on the recommendation of a board comprising high-ranking officials of the police operations as well as a psychologist; the board may also evaluate the officials from time to time to determine their suitability for posting in the field; psychological sessions be organized for counseling and management of action and use of force in all circumstances by the ATS and operations wing of the police; and strengthening of the police monitoring system. These recommendations must form an integral part of training for all police departments.
However, things will not change for the better unless and until the trigger happy elements also know there are consequences for transgressions. Those who killed Satti may have felt encouraged to do what they did from a harrowing incident that took place not long ago near Sahiwal. In that case a six-member team of the Punjab Counter-Terrorism Department had opened fire at a stopped car killing a man and his wife, their daughter and a friend while the couple’s other three minor children looked on in shock. At the time, the Prime Minister had promised the victims’ family of justice. But all the six men involved in the brutal murder walked free after an ATC court decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. It can only be hoped in the present case the perpetrators will be made to pay for their crime so no policeman feels free in future to take a citizen’s life.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021