Pakistani authorities have ordered an investigation into the killing of an unarmed young man by the country’s paramilitary forces in the port city of Karachi.
“The probe into the matter will ensure transparency, and the findings of the JIT (the Joint Investigation Team) will be made public and the investigation will be done in a transparent manner,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Thursday, quoted by Pakistan’s daily newspaper Dawn.
In his Thursday address to lawmakers in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani described the incident as “a matter of concern for the whole nation” and reiterated that he “will look into it at personal level, and the culprits will be brought to justice.”
On Wednesday, the paramilitary Rangers shot dead an unarmed young male, identified as Sarafraz Shah, at a park in Karachi.
The footage, repeatedly aired on local news channels and later posted on the net, showed a man in civilian clothes, holding Sarfaraz Shah by his collar and kicking him towards a group of armed rangers.
The rangers surrounded the unarmed suspect and as he moved towards one of the rangers that was threatening to shoot him, with his arms outstretched and seemingly pleading for mercy, he was pushed back and shot twice in the hand and leg. The young detainee then screemed in pain and begged for help, but the rangers stood by as he writhed in an expanding pool of his own blood.
The injured suspect was eventually taken to a local hospital and died shortly afterward from blood loss, medical sources said.
Six members of the Rangers have been arrested, Maj. Gen. Aijaz Chaudhry, the head of the force said.
The incident sparked public outrage. Hundreds of people showed up at Sarafraz Shah’s funeral on Thursday and chanted slogans against Karachi Rangers.
Pakistani security forces are often accused of using excessive force and abusing ordinary people.
Source: Press TV
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