LARKANA: Family members and relatives of a man shot dead by police in an “encounter” held a protest demonstration near Baho Kosh village on Rato-dero-Shahdadkot road on Friday.

       Carrying body of the victim, Ghulam Farid Kosh, the protesters accused the police of killing him in custody after they could not arrange the bribe demanded for his release.

       His father, Ladho Kosh, told local reporters that his son, along with three other persons, Ali Dost, Suleman and Ali Sher — all Jatois by caste — was picked up by a police team, led by SHO of the Waleed police station, while he was staying at his sister’s house in Hussaini Mohallah, Larkana.

       Ladho Kosh alleged that the police demanded bribe for his release which could not be arranged. “The police then shot dead my son in a staged encounter,” he alleged, and said that the whereabouts of the three held men were still not known.

       The protesters urged the Sindh police chief and Larkana DIG to order a fair inquiry into the “custodial murder” and provide justice to the bereaved family.

       Larkana SSP’s PRO, however, claimed that Ghulam Farid Kosh was wanted by the police in numerous criminal cases registered against him at the Warisdino Machhi, Ratodero, Waleed, Sachal and Sujawal police stations. He was shot dead in an encounter that took place along Dodai Minor (irrigation channel) within the jurisdiction of the Waleed police station in the night intervening Thursday and Friday, the PRO claimed. He also claimed that a Kalashnikov rifle was seized from the suspect.

       Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2022