ISLAMABAD: Karachi police faced fresh questions over misconduct and accountability after findings of an inquiry made public on Friday showed several officers had aided relatives of a senior superintendent during a confrontation with another family, made arrests without sufficient evidence and mishandled the subsequent investigation.

The inquiry was ordered after CCTV footage of the Aug. 21 confrontation in Karachi’s Defense neighborhood went viral, showing police personnel present as members of two families clashed.

Investigators found officers had sided with relatives of Qur’angi SSP Fida Hussain Janwari and recommended criminal or departmental action against several policemen, while also faulting the senior officer for failing to supervise his subordinates.

“The arrest of accused persons ... on spot without sufficient evidence is not justifiable, and bespeaks their tilt toward aggressive party,” the inquiry report said, recommending departmental proceedings against three officers for “miscarriage of justice.”

The confrontation stemmed from a parking dispute involving Janwari’s mother-in-law and another resident at an apartment building in Defense Housing Authority’s Phase VI, according to media reports.

Footage of the incident showed a woman armed with a dumbbell striking another woman while uniformed police personnel were present. It also showed a man in plain clothes smashing a CCTV camera with a weapon handed to him by one of the uniformed men.

The inquiry found that two constables had facilitated one side to the detriment of the other, saying their conduct went beyond lawful duty and bordered on criminal misconduct. It faulted two other constables for partisanship that it said contributed to the assault and escalation of the confrontation.

A case was subsequently registered at Darakshan police station against members of the other family on a complaint from Janwari’s relative. The inquiry found the allegations were not substantiated and directed that the case be disposed of as false in accordance with law.

It also recommended the registration of a fresh case against Janwari’s mother-in-law, her son and daughter and police personnel present during the confrontation.

The inquiry did not find that Janwari had ordered the police personnel to the scene, but cited a “lapse of supervision and lack of control over his subordinates” and recommended that the competent authority examine his conduct under disciplinary rules.

The findings come as Karachi police face separate scrutiny over the killing of 25-year-old businessman Mir Raza Ali.

Ali’s death was initially treated as a possible suicide before a second autopsy found he had been shot in the back and suffered multiple injuries, raising questions over the police investigation, handling of evidence and the first postmortem.

A judicial commission is now examining possible negligence and misconduct in the case.