LHC Seeks Report On Sahiwal Tragedy

The LHC judge remarked that police do not have any authority to target innocent civilians.

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 23rd January, 2019) The Lahore High Court (LHC) has sought a report on the Sahiwal tragedy.

LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan held the hearing on Sahiwal encounter case on Thursday.

The LHC chief justice expressed grief over the incident.

He remarked that such an incident should not have happened.

He asked for the details of all the police encounters and directed the JIT to prepare a report on merit.

He ordered to submit the report on Feb 4.

The LHC judge remarked that police do not have any authority to target innocent civilians.

Punjab IGP Amjad Javed Saleemi also appeared before the court.

He told the court that the CTD officials have been suspended.

The chief justice ordered all Punjab DPOs not to do such operations in future and warned against direct action.

The LHC chief justice referred the case to a two-member bench and directed the JIT head to appear with the report during the next hearing on Feb 4.

Sahiwal encounter

Four people including two women were killed during an action by Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Sahiwal on Saturday.

Reportedly, the incident occurred at Qadirabad where a team of CTD Lahore, taking action against a suspected car, shot dead two men and two women.

Later, the CTD team took the bodies, children and other valuables from the vehicle. However, the team later on dropped the children at a filling station.

With the alleged shady encounter on a highway in Sahiwal district, a big question mark was posed on the functioning of Punjab Police.

The victims were first declared as kidnappers and then as terrorists from a proscribed group by the police force, which raised eyebrows on the alleged shootout, followed by contradictory witnesses' narratives.

As the incident drew wide ire and condemnation, demands were also made for a thorough probe.

JIT Report

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar Tuesday removed top officials of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) from their posts immediately on the report of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the Sahiwal killing incident.

JIT head Additional Inspector General of Police Ejaz Shah submitted its initial fact finding report to the chief minister during a meeting, holding the CTD officials taking part in the Sahiwal shooting, responsible for the killing of Khalil, his wife and the daughter.

In the light of the report, the chief minister decided to take action against Additional Inspector General of Police (Ops) Punjab, Additional IG (CTD) Punjab, DIG (CTD), SSP (CTD), DSP (CTD) Sahiwal and the officers involved in the killing.

On the chief minister's directives, Additional IGP (Ops) Punjab and DIG (CTD) were directed to report back to the Federal government, while Additional IG (CTD) had been removed from his post. SSP (CTD) and DSP (CTD) Sahiwal Region had been suspended.

It was directed that the five CTD officers, involved in the alleged encounter, should be challaned in the case and tried in the anti-terrorism court.

The JIT sought give time for further investigations and collection of proofs about Zeeshan, driver of the car, who was also killed in the shooting.