2011 Sindh Rangers shooting incident

The 2011 Sindh Rangers shooting incident was a controversial incident regarding the shooting of a 22-year-old Pakistani citizen Sarfaraz Shah by soldiers affiliated with Sindh Rangers, a branch of the paramilitary command Pakistan Rangers.

Sarfaraz Shah was shot by the paramilitaries in Karachi.

The video from Karachi, which has been broadcast widely on Pakistani television, is disturbing to watch. It shows a young man in a black t-shirt being dragged by his hair in a public park by a man in plain clothes. He is pushed towards a group of Sindh Rangers, a paramilitary force, who are in uniform and armed with G3 battle rifles. The young man, who does not appear to be armed, pleads for his life as one of the Rangers points a gun at his neck. The Ranger then shoots him twice at close range with rifle, hitting him in the thigh. The young man is seen writhing on the ground, screaming in pain, bleeding heavily and begging for help as the video ends, he is not taken to hospital by rangers. He died of blood loss.

The Rangers have since said that the young man had been caught trying to rob someone. His family denies this. His brother, Salik Shah, said Sarfaraz had been the victim of an extrajudicial killing. "My innocent brother has been killed brutally by the Rangers," he said. "What harm has he inflicted on anybody? "His crime was that he was just strolling in the public park because there was no power in the house."

It is not clear who shot the video which has been broadcast repeatedly on Pakistani television. Some reports suggest that the cameraman has now gone into hiding. The incident has sparked an outcry with some politicians calling for the Rangers involved to be prosecuted. Ali Dayan Hasan, the Pakistani researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the killing "provides chilling evidence of the abusive, trigger-happy practices of Pakistan's military, paramilitary and civilian agencies". Iftakhar Ahmad Chouhdary, the chief Justice of Pakistan, has taken action on his behalf and the case of those rangers is transferred to the court of Anti-Terrorism.

It comes as a separate inquiry following a similar controversial incident in the neighbouring Balochistan Province involving the killing of five foreigners by members of the paramilitary. Five civilians, including a heavily pregnant woman, were shot dead at close range in the western city of Quetta, despite apparently trying to surrender. Officials initially said that the five family members were armed and were suicide bombers—but this was later found to be untrue.

The whole episode was recorded incidentally by the crew of a Sindhi TV channel, Awaz Television Network. They were at the Benazir Shaheed Public Park, Clifton near the American Consulate in Karachi, at around 17:30 on that eventful day, recording their program "Walk & Talk". A person stated to be a security guard at the Park, brought the unfortunate young man to the Rangers driving a white-colored vehicle numbered 1543. This vehicle is now in the custody of Boat Basin, Karachi Police. The Rangers personnel appeared to be 'hyper', and their physical and mental condition could not be ascertained by an independent medical examination, seeing as they were taken in 'protective' custody by their own comrades. They were handed over to the Police after at least 2 days, by which time it was no more possible to examine their state at the time of the incident.