Police have booked Moulvi Umar Jan Sarhandi and three other policemen on the charges of killing a doctor accused of blasphemy by police in Mirpurkhas.

DIG Javed Jaskani, SSP Chaudhry Asad, and SSP Asif Raza are the other suspects named in the first information report. The case has been filed on behalf of the government.

Charges in the case include terrorism, murder in police custody, and other related offences. The case was registered at the Sindhri Police Station area of Mirpurkhas district.

Dr Shahnawaz Kunbhar, who was accused of sharing blasphemous content on social media, was shot dead during a police encounter in Mirpurkhas on September 19, according to authorities.

In response to the incident, the Sindh inspector general of police has established an inquiry committee to investigate two cases registered at the Sindhri Police Station. Following the shooting, the IGP transferred the Mirpurkhas SSP, ordering him to report to the Sindh Central Police Office in Karachi.

Last week, Lanjar announced the removal of senior police officials from the Mirpurkhas Division and emphasised that the inquiry committee would determine whether the doctor was killed “extra-judicially.”

Meanwhile, civil society activists from across Sindh gathered at the Umerkot Press Club on Wednesday to protest the incident, with the demonstration led by the daughter of the blasphemy suspect.

On Thursday, Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar told reporters that the inquiry committee found that the doctor was killed in “a fake encounter”.