Govt re-investigating Model Town tragedy: minister
- By Web Desk -
- Oct 13, 2018
LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Information and Culture, Fayaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, has said that said the Model Town tragedy is being re-investigated and legal action will be taken against those who were involved in it.
Talking to the media here, Chohan said the bureaucracy had to work under law to follow the orders of the government and it should not accept orders which were against rules, regulations and laws.
The minister said the bureaucracy should not accept any pressure and should work under the law.
He claimed, Fawad Hasan Fawad was dictated for awarding the tender to a blue eyed in sheer violation of law, adding that ministries and even prime ministership were used to get personal benefits in the past.
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Oct 9 indicted former Punjab police chief Mushtaq Sukhera in a case pertaining to the Model Town carnage.
The ex-IG Punjab pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges against him.
Background: The Model Town carnage
On July 17, 2014, 14 people were killed and 100 others injured when the police opened fire to disperse protesting PAT workers during an anti-encroachment operation outside the residence of PAT chief Dr. Tahirul Qadri.
The one-man judicial commission formed to probe the 2014 Model Town incident held that the operation planned and designed under the then Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah “could have easily been avoided” and that the “police officers actively participated in the massacre”.
“This tribunal has very carefully seen the CD of the first press conference of Chief Minister Punjab after the incident in which he did not specifically mention about his direction of disengagement. It has become crystal clear that order of disengagement was not passed at all, rather position taken by CM Punjab appears to be an afterthought defence not taken before the nation in the press conference,” says the report.
The commission maintained that it arrived at the conclusion after “putting all facts and circumstances in juxtapositions”.