KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Friday extended till Aug 21 interim pre-arrest bail of three policemen in a case pertaining to killing of a teenage student in an alleged staged shoot-out.

The then SHO of Sachal police station Ismail Lashari, Inspector Shaikh Mohammad Shoaib, alias Shoaib Shooter, ASIs Mukhtiar Ali Mangi and Ghulam Shabbir and ConstableMohammad Khalid Bhatti have been booked for allegedly killing 17-year-old Anisur Rehman Soomro in a fake encounter and dubbing the victim as a Taliban militant in June 2014.

On Friday, the ATC-II judge was set to hear arguments on the applications seeking confirmation of pre-arrest ball granted earlier to the undertrial police officials Mukhtiar Ali, Ghulam Shabbir and Khalid Bhatti. However, the investigating officer failed to bring the police file of the case.The judge directed the IO to bring the police file on Aug 21 and till then extended pre-arrest bail of the applicants.

Former Inspectors Lashari and Shoaib Shooter, who is also nominated in the case pertaining to the killing of Nageebullah Mehsud and three others in an alleged staged encounter, have been declared proclaimed offenders in the present case since they absconded after obtaining pre-arrest bail.

According to the prosecution, the victim was a Class-X student when he wasarrested with his two friends by the Sachal Goth police near Safoora Goth in Gulistan-i-Jauhar on June12, 2014.

SHO Lashari allegedly demanded Rs500,000 for the safe release of the captive and later killed him in a fake encounter since the complainant was unable to pay the bribe, it added.

It further maintained that the slain student had been detained for 10 days at the Sachal police station before he was taken to a nearby Afghan refugee camp, where he was killed on June 22, 2014.Police initially claimed to have killed four Taliban militants, including the victim, in the episode.

On the directive of the Sindh High Court, a case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code against the police officers on the complaint of the father of the deceased at the Sachal police station.

Later, Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 was incorporated in the FIR.