Abbottabad: The funeral prayer of Sardar Arif, an employee of Ayub Teaching Institution Abbottabad who was allegedly killed in a police firing incident yesterday, was offered in Abbottabad amid a large gathering of his colleagues, relatives and local residents.
A large number of employees of Ayub Teaching Institution participated in the funeral and later staged a protest on the Karakoram Highway (KKH), blocking the road in both directions and demanding the immediate arrest of those nominated in the murder case, including SHO Mirpur Police Station Ahsan Khan, his gunner Hamza, five other police personnel and two Afghan nationals.
SHO Mirpur Ahsan Khan and his gunner Hamza, nominated in the Arif murder case, also secured bail before arrest from the court.
The protesters demanded a transparent and impartial investigation into the incident and action against all those found responsible. They also announced a boycott of hospital services, except emergency services, until action was taken against the nominated suspects.
Yesterday, Sardar Arif was allegedly killed during a dispute at a residential house on Phal Gulab Road within the jurisdiction of Mirpur Police Station. An Afghan national was also injured during the incident. The deceased was reportedly subjected to firing in the presence of his wife and children, according to his family.
After the incident, the body was shifted to hospital for postmortem. Following the postmortem, the bereaved family and hospital employees placed the body on the KKH and launched a protest, resulting in the closure of the highway for around seven hours and long queues of vehicles.
Senior district administration and police officials reached the hospital and held negotiations with the protesters. The protesters later suspended their demonstration and reopened the road after receiving assurances that an FIR would be registered against the nominated suspects, an investigation committee would be constituted and a transparent inquiry would be conducted.