Fake encounter: LHC orders recording of statements of witnesses

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered for recording confessional statements of prosecution witnesses in alleged Mudassar fake encounter case.

Justice Muhammad Anwaar ul Haq passed the orders while allowing a petition filed by the Punjab Prosecution Department challenging decision of a judicial magistrate in the matter.

The prosecution assailing judicial magistrate's decision of not recording the statements of the prosecution witnesses under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) had submitted that if the statements were not recorded then the accused police officials might escape punishment.

The court was requested to set aside order of the judicial magistrate and issue directions for recording statements of the witnesses.

The court was further apprised that the apex court had also given directions to decide the petition for recording statement of witnesses while hearing a suo motu notice over alleged extrajudicial killing of Mudassar in Kasur.

It is pertinent to mention here that during the hearing of suo motu, the apex court was also apprised that the police had registered an FIR against the deceased (Mudassar) and his brother over the alleged encounter. A senior police officer further briefed the court that the prosecution witnesses in the case admitted that they were not present on the occasion.

The police tried to get their statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC but the magistrate concerned rejected the request, he added.

The alleged fake encounter case was referred in January this year to the Punjab investigation branch after it transpired that a young-man Mudassar was allegedly killed in a staged encounter in Iman Fatima rape case in Kasur.

The police decided to re-investigate the murder of Mudassar in police encounter in the light of Zainab's case in which the DNA test confirmed that prime suspect Imran was killer of the girl in Kasur.

A worker by profession, 21-year-old Mudassar was taken into custody by the Kasur police the same day (Feb 25, 2017) the five-year-old girl was raped and killed.

Meanwhile, the court also issued notices to two former SHOs- Riaz Abbas and Younus Naveed- involved in alleged fake encounter of Mudassar, for April 6 on a petition seeking their bail cancellation.

The prosecution had requested the court to set aside bail granted to the accused by a sessions court in Kasur.