Teen shot dead by Pak forces,5 held

Pakistani security forces are often accused of using excessive force and abusing ordinary citizens.

The security personnel claimed Shah was an armed robber and was shot dead when he opened fire. However,the footage broadcast repeatedly through the day showed Shah was unarmed at the time.

Shah is also seen pleading for his life before being shot. He continued to plead for help after being shot but the troopers left him lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed shock and grief over the killing,and sought an immediate report. He said the matter will be investigated,and law will take its course.

Speaking in Parliament,Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said he would look into the incident and the “culprits will be brought to justice”.

However,Gilani said the Constitution barred the use of abusive language against the superior judiciary and the armed forces.

He was referring to an incident earlier in the day,when PML-N lawmaker Khwaja Saad Rafique criticised the Pakistan Rangers,calling its personnel “terrorists in uniform” who must be “bridled”.

Hundreds of people attended Shah’s funeral in Karachi and shouted slogans like “The Rangers are killers”.

Shah’s older brother Salik,a TV reporter,said the youth was a student who had been looking for work to support his family. “It seems to be a case of routine high-handedness of the Rangers,” Salik said. “They misuse powers by shooting on sight.”

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he had ordered a magisterial inquiry but pointed out that there were reports that Shah was involved in an attempt to rob two women at the park where he was killed.

“Even if the youth was involved in looting and handed over to the Rangers,they had no right to shoot him,” he said.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists said the cameraman who had filmed the killing was in danger as he had been receiving threats.