Karachi Fake Encounter: 3 Cops Sentenced, Main Accused Gets Death

He was going to get medicine for his paralyzed father. He was only 26 years old and a young girl was with him. He had no idea that in the city where he went out to buy medicine for his family, his life would be taken by policemen.

This is not a film script. It is a true story of police brutality in Karachi, whose verdict has come after four years.

*1. What Is The Verdict?*

The Model Criminal Court East, Karachi, has announced a historic verdict in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar fake police encounter case:

– *Main accused Constable Shahryar* sentenced to death
– *Accomplices Nasir and Faisal* sentenced to life imprisonment
– All three ordered to pay *Rs. 5 lakh each* as compensation to the legal heirs of the deceased
– The court ruled that it was not an encounter with dacoits, but *cold-blooded murder and a staged fake encounter*

This is one of the harshest punishments ever awarded in a fake encounter case in Sindh in recent years.

*2. How Did The Incident Happen? – The Night of 27 December 2022*

According to the prosecution and court record:

– *Time & Place:* 27 December 2022, around 8 pm, near Aladdin Park, Gulistan-e-Jauhar
– *Victim:* Aamir Hussain, 26, an ordinary citizen with no criminal record. His father is a paralysis patient
– *What he was doing:* He had gone out to buy medicine for his paralyzed father. A minor girl from the neighbourhood was with him
– *Police Party:* Shaheen Force personnel Shahryar, Nasir and Faisal were on snap-checking duty
– *The Chase:* Police claimed they signalled the motorcyclist to stop and he did not stop, so they chased him. But eyewitnesses and CCTV footage proved the claim false
– *The Murder:* Chasing Aamir, the policemen reached a residential building, *Nauman Avenue, Gulistan-e-Jauhar*. Aamir got off his motorcycle and was going up the stairs towards his parents’ flat when officials opened fire at point-blank range. Bullets hit him in the head and chest and he died on the spot

An eyewitness, a resident of the same building, stated in court: _”The policemen shot the boy in front of everyone on the stairs, he was folding his hands saying my father is sick.”_

*3. How Police Turned It Into An Encounter – Pattern Of A Fake Encounter*

Immediately after the incident, the usual script was followed:

– Police Control was informed that “Two dacoits were fleeing after firing on police, one was killed in retaliatory firing, the other accomplice fled with the child”
– A *30-bore pistol* was planted near Aamir’s body, which was later proved to be from police custody itself
– In the FIR, an attempt was made to show Aamir as an “unknown dacoit”

But this time, the story did not work.

– *Family’s Stance:* Aamir’s mother said, weeping before the media: _”If my son was going to commit a robbery, why was an 8-year-old girl with him? He had gone to get medicine for his disabled father.”_
– *Investigating Officer’s Admission:* In December 2022 itself, during the first hearing, the IO told the court that the initial investigation did not support the policemen’s claim that they had killed a dacoit in an encounter
– *Forensics:* No gunpowder traces were found on Aamir’s hands, proving he had not fired. The firing distance was 3 to 4 feet, confirming a close-range killing

*4. Four-Year Legal Battle*

– *2022:* Case registered, three officials arrested, departmentally suspended
– *2023-2024:* Statements of 12 prosecution witnesses recorded, including eyewitnesses, the building watchman, the medico-legal officer, and the minor girl who was with Aamir
– *2025:* Sindh Police dismissed all three from service
– *2026:* The court, which had reserved judgment after completion of arguments, announced the verdict

In its short judgment, the court observed: _”The purpose of the uniform is protection, not murder. Such personnel who misuse the uniform to kill citizens deserve no leniency.”_

*5. Background: History of Fake Encounters in Karachi*

This case is not isolated.

– According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), between 2020 and 2025, over 600 people were killed in more than 400 police encounters in Karachi, of which over 40% were later declared fake
– The Shaheen Force, created to curb street crime, faces the highest number of fake encounter allegations
– Before Aamir Hussain, the fake encounters of Naqeebullah Mehsud in 2018, Salahuddin in 2019, and Arsalan Mehsud in 2022 became national issues

*6. Questions That Remain*

1. Were only three constables responsible? Why did their SHO and DSP endorse this fake encounter?
2. From which police station’s Malkhana did the pistol shown as recovered from Aamir come? Why was it never investigated?
3. Under what law is Sindh Police authorizing the Shaheen Force to stop anyone and shoot?

*Conclusion:*

Aamir Hussain has got justice, but who will bring medicine for his paralyzed father today? The court has ordered Rs. 5 lakh compensation, but is the life of a 26-year-old youth worth only Rs. 5 lakh?

This verdict is a warning for Sindh Police that fake encounters will now be treated not as encounters, but as murder.