Karachi: The killing of four Baloch youths during a reported police encounter involving the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Karachi has taken a new turn after the father of one of the deceased formally sought an investigation into the incident.
Hamdan Baloch was among four men who were killed on February 17, 2026, in Shah Latif Town, Karachi. Police claimed they were killed in an encounter. However, family members said that the youths were already in CTD custody at the time of the incident and described the encounter as staged.
Hamdan’s father, Muhammad Ali, has submitted applications to the Director Karachi Zone and the Director General Islamabad of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), as well as to the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), requesting a formal inquiry into what he termed a custodial killing.
In his application, he has called for an investigation under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022.
According to the petition, Hamdan had been in CTD custody since January 5, 2026, and multiple cases had been registered against him. The application states that court records acknowledged he was on police remand until February 18, 2026. Despite this, police announced on February 17 that he had been killed in an encounter a claim the family disputes.
The petition further states that two other individuals, Jalil son of Muhammad Noor and Niaz son of Qadir Bakhsh, were also killed in the same incident and were in CTD custody at the time. A fourth individual was described by police as unidentified.
Family members argue that since the men were already detained, the official version of an encounter is legally questionable.
The application also says that no post-mortem examinations were conducted for Hamdan, Jalil, or Niaz, despite legal requirements mandating post-mortem procedures in cases of custodial deaths. According to the family, the bodies were buried without fulfilling legal formalities, potentially affecting the prospects of a transparent investigation.
Citing Section 176 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the petitioner contended that a judicial magistrate is legally bound to conduct an inquiry in cases of custodial death. However, according to the family, no such magisterial inquiry has yet been initiated by the relevant authorities in Shah Latif Town.
Muhammad Ali has said in his complaint that CTD officials and local police are concealing facts and bear direct responsibility for the deaths.
