https://arab.news/594h3
- Shahnawaz Kunbhar, a medical doctor accused of online blasphemy, was killed by police in an encounter in September
- Government inquiry later said officers, including a deputy inspector general of police, had staged the encounter
KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Pakistan’s Sindh province this week issued arrest warrants for six police officers, including a deputy inspector general of police, over accusations they had staged the murder of a doctor accused of blasphemy, but the suspects had not yet been arrested, his family said on Friday.
Dr. Shahnawaz Kunbhar, accused of sharing blasphemous content online, was arrested in Karachi and killed by police in Mirpurkhas on Sept. 18, 2024. Police said the killing was unintentional and happened when officers attempted to stop two men on a motorcycle, and one of them started shoooting, prompting them to return fire. Authorities said it was only after the shooting that they realized the man they had killed was the doctor they had been seeking in a blasphemy case.
Mass protests in Sindh province and widespread social media outrage followed the doctor’s killing, leading to the formation of a government committee that concluded that Kunbhar was killed in a “staged encounter.” The Sindh provincial government subsequently suspended 10 officers, including a deputy inspector general, and filed charges against 34 suspects. It is rare in Pakistan for government action over violence against people accused of blasphemy.
Ibrahim Kunbhar, the cousin of the deceased, confirmed to Arab News that the ATC had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for six officers, including former DIG Javed Jiskani, on Thursday.
“But why do they need non-bailable arrest warrants to apprehend them? They should have been arrested long ago as their guilt has been proven in the official inquiry,” Ibrahim said in a telephone interview on Friday. “We demand that they be immediately apprehended and tried for the murder of Shahnawaz.”
The court also ordered the Federal Investigation Agency to present the accused officers before the court by January 8, 2025. Ibrahim said the FIA had recorded statements from five medical board members who exhumed Kunbhar’s body. One of them, Professor Dr. Waheed, confirmed signs of “torture,” including five broken ribs.
Accusations of blasphemy, sometimes even just rumors, can spark riots and mob rampages in Pakistan. Although killings of suspects by mobs are common, extra-judicial killings by police are rare, as is action against perpetrators of violence in blasphemy cases.
Human rights groups and civil society organizations have urged the Pakistani government to repeal the country’s blasphemy laws, which they argue contribute to discrimination and violence. They have also called for a comprehensive review of law enforcers’ response to blasphemy accusations.