QUETTA: On Thursday, inside the Cantt Police Station’s detention, a police policeman shot and killed a blasphemy suspect.
The suspect, Abdul Ali, also known as Lala, was taken into custody by the local police the previous day on suspicion of blasphemy.
The defendant was taken into custody after a video of him allegedly making offensive comments regarding the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and Khatm-i-Nabuwwat (the finality of prophethood) went viral. Kharotabad is a neighborhood outside of Quetta. Once the video went viral, a case was filed against him.
A vengeful mob from religious groups, notably Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), assembled in front of the Kharotabad Police Station, the original detention site of the suspect. The demonstrators threw stones at the police station and even set off grenade assaults as they demanded that the suspect be taken into jail.
Subsequently, for his protection, the police officers sent the suspect to the Cantt Police Station. But upon arriving at Cantt, a constable assigned to the Kharotabad station spoke with other officers before shooting the man inside the prison.
Inspector General of Police in Balochistan Moazzam Jah Ansari told Dawn that the policeman “suddenly opened fire on the suspect who was in the police lockup,” adding that he had been using his own handgun.
Another police officer confirmed that the man was shot multiple times and died instantly. Following the event, authorities reported that the police constable, identified as Saad Khan Sarhadi, was taken into custody and that an ongoing investigation was underway.
This is the first instance of its sort in Quetta: a suspect who was being held on blasphemy charges was slain by a police officer who was still on duty.
