- Orphanage admin booked on Labour Department’s complaint.
- Case registered against prime suspect under Child Labour Act.
- Suspect Tauqeer Nazir accused of employing underage child.
Police on Wednesday registered a case against an orphanage administrator for sending an orphaned teenager to work without authorisation in Punjab’s Multan.
The development came after Waseem Abbas, a 15-year-old orphan, was allegedly chased and run over by a car in Multan’s Royal Orchard housing society.
Police later arrested prime suspect Tauqeer Nazir, who was remanded into police custody for four days by a judicial magistrate in Multan for questioning in connection with the teenager’s murder.
However, the prime suspect was killed in an purported encounter with Punjab’s Crime Control Department (CCD) near Bahawalpur on Wednesday.
CCD District Officer Irfan Akbar said a police team attempted to stop two men riding a motorcycle near the Northern Bypass in Bahawalpur. He said the men opened fire on the police while attempting to flee, leading to an exchange of fire in which Tauqeer was killed.
Police had previously said that Waseem had been living at an NGO-run orphanage before being sent to work with Tauqeer about a week before his death to learn electrical work.
The teenager reportedly wanted to leave the job because of alleged mistreatment.
Meanwhile, police said that the case against the orphanage administrator was registered on the complaint of a Labour Department assistant director, who named Shoaib, a member of an NGO’s governing body.
Police said the case against the orphanage administrator concerned the transfer of the orphaned child for employment without permission.
In a separate development, another case was registered against Tauqeer under the Child Labour Act, alleging that he had employed an underage child.
