ENCOUNTERS IN DISTRICT CHARSADDA

BY:

MOHAMMAD ALI BABAKHEL P.S.P

SP ( H.Qrs) PESHAWAR

OBJECT During my posting as A.S.P Charsadda I realized that this district is losing

more constables than any other district. I Personally collected data to look into

the timings, spots of occurrence, type of weapon used, strength used on both

sides and the irreparable loss we faced.

P.S KHANMAI During 1988-1999 this P.S witnessed five encounters. All happened from

15.30 to 22.30 hours. One commanded by I.H.C two by the S.H.O.s and two by

the SDPO’s. Places where encounters had taken place were HAKEEMABAD,

MUSAKALAY, MUFTIABAD and SHAKH.No.5 Minimum Police strength used

was 1-2 while maximum force was 1-2-20.both sides exchanged fire with

automatic weapons. 4 criminals got killed. Luckily, as all these encounters had

taken place at open places and commanded by either SHO or by the SDPO’s.

Police had not faced any loss.

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P.S.SHABQADARThis P.S has a history of 19 encounters. Most of these have taken place

either in June or in September, between 2000 to 2400 hours. These were

commanded either by S.H.O. or by the D.S.P. Places where these were staged

are Saddar Ghari, Michini road, Political road and Mansuka.

In these encounters Police lost S.I Hameed Khan and three Constables.

During these encounters Police vehicles were badly damaged.

PS.UMERZAIOn 13.04.98 an encounter was staged at TALA-SHAH, Commanded by a

D.S.P. From Police side 40 Constable participated. In this encounter 2 PO’s were

killed and one injured.

P.S.PRANGDuring last 12 years this P.S. had 10 encounters. Prang a thickly

populated area that’s why never more than 10 constables were employed. During

all these encounters Police remained safe while 2 criminals namely Zafar and

Javed were killed. All these were commanded by the SDPO’s. Majukay, Shabra

and Agra are remembered as places of encounters.

P.S. TANGIExtensive fields of Tangi, having close proximity to De-facto Tribal area

witnessed 11 encounters. These were mostly commanded by the SDPO’s. These

were carried out at open places. Here we lost 3 Constables, one H.C and 2

A.S.I.s While 8 criminals lost their lives. DOT-17,PALAY KALLY, TURLANDI,

BHATTAY KORONA and SHAKH SHERPAO remained hot spots within the area

of P.S TANGI.

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P.S.CHRSADDA

This police station has a record of 3 encounters, commanded either by the

SHO or by the S.D.P.O We lost 2 constables while criminals went safe. I

presume in the capacity of the then SDPO serving in district charsadda that

March and August were the months in which the police faced tough time. The

timings of the encounters were 11:45, 11:00 and 21:00 Hours. I strongly

recommend that police force should be vigilant during these hours. The places of

encounters were check post Gulabad, village Dhab Gharibabad and Charsadda-

Mardan Road.

The incident of August 1995 was a tragic one in which constable

Jehanzeb lost his life. The reason behind his death was unwanted chivalry on his

part. As he went all alone and tried to arrest a person who was armed with a

Klashnikov.

In another incident Constable Sherzada had to meet a tragic end.

The incident occurred in March 1996.The story is that a Police party consisting of

4 men tried to arrest a criminal, who have sought refuge in a shop. Sherzada

went alone inside the shop while rest of the Police party kept standing outside.

Thus as soon as he entered the criminals shot down him dead. This incident

gave rise to many grave question;.

I. Why the Police party did not communicate appropriate message to get

more manpower?

II. If supposing they did communicate then why the Police establishment

did not respond promptly?

III. Why the commander of the raiding party let Sherzada go alone into the

shop; was not he aware of the preciousness of human life;

It’s pertinent to mention that Police party consisted of 4 personnel’s

and the criminals were also 4 in numbers.

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P.S SARDHERI

This Police station has witnessed 9 encounters, all commanded

either by S.H.O or by the D.S.P. Palosa, Gulabad Bridge, Char Kunja and Said

Noor abad were the places of encounters. We lost one SHO, One I.H.C and one

constable. While one proclaimed offender namely Zarnosh was killed. In the

vicinity of P.S Sardheri, out of 9 encounters only 2 encounters were carried out

with more than platoon strength. Otherwise the usual strength was not more than

4 to 6 Policemen.

In this incident the criminals fired at the Police party with automatic

weapons. The possession of automatic weapons by the criminals indicate

weakness on the part of the local Police, as a result the Police got itself victim of

such illegal weapons.

According to my observation the timings of such encounters were

13:00 to 14:30 hours in the daytime and 21:30 in the night. August, October and

November were the months in which the Police faced tough time.

In an encounter, which took place in October 1988, as a result of

which constable Mian Gul lost his life. In this encounter a proclaimed offenders

Zarnosh was also killed. The blunder committed by Mian Gul was again an

unwanted show of bravery at the cost of his life. He went all alone into the den of

the criminals. When the criminals saw him approaching, Zarnosh threw a hand

grenade on him, which blew him up.

I believe that it was a fault on the part of the raiding party

commander, that why Mian Gul was sent all alone.

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In November 1990, another very sad incident took place at char

Kunja which claimed the life of an S.H.O. The Police party was conducting “

Nakabaundi”. In the meantime a Suzuki Pick-up appeared and started sniper fire

on the Police party. All the criminals sitting in the vehicle were carrying automatic

weapons. Whether the Police party had no time or the courage to retaliate, as

they did not fire even a single bullet.

“ REASONS”

1. I believe that the prime most fault was that the proper Nakabandi positions

were not observed. The Jawans were not standing on alert aiming

positions. This is a manifestation of lack of professionalism in the police

force.

2. Another reason was that the Police party had no verified information about

the movements of the criminals.

OBSERVATIONS

1. The prime most reason for casualties in the Police department is lack of

proper training. It would be pertinent to note that during the last 5 years

Peshawar Police has not carried out even a single practice fire for the

constabulary. During the ongoing practice fire plan initiated by Capital

City Police, it has been observed with concern that most of the upper

subordinates cannot handle weapons properly. They carry the weapons

but unfortunately do not know how to use it.

2. Our training Academies never give due importance to the firing practice.

3. The Supervising Officers seem reluctant to command raids under their

personal supervision. The presence of the said officers during the raids

can minimize such Kind of tragic incidents.

4. Bulletproof jackets are not used during the raids, which increase the

chance of casualties.

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5. Usually our mobiles (particularly in rural areas) do not carry ladder, torch,

and mega phone.

6. The raids are usually carried out without prior collection of intelligence.

7. The number of casualties increase during the sugarcane crop season. The

PO’s take refuge in these fields. In fact this has been a main reason for

casualties specifically in Charsadda district.

MOHAMMAD ALI BABAKHEL P.S.P

SP ( H.Qrs) PESHAWAR

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