Sahiwal shootout: 'JIT trying to protect CTD personnel', says victims' family

LAHORE: The heirs of victims, who were shot dead in a controversial encounter in Sahiwal by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel, said on Wednesday they didn’t see provision of justice by the joint investigation team, ARY News reported.

Jalil, brother of Khalil who was killed by CTD personnel along with his wife and daughter on Jan 19 in a shady encounter, said the JIT had assured to present report on Feb 14.

He claimed that JIT was trying to protect CTD officials and tamper the evidence.

Jalil said it was feared that weapons used in the ‘fake encounter’ would be changed in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Sources had informed earlier in the day that the JIT would submit its report into the alleged police encounter on February 20.

The JIT was asked to submit its report within 3 days after the incident, but Joint Investigation Team head Additional Inspector General (AIG) Syed Ijaz Hussain Shahasked for extra time as the matter was complicated and need time to file report.

Four people, including two women, were killed in a shady encounter involving the Punjab police’s CTD on a highway in the Qadirabad area of Sahiwal district on Jan 19.

The Sahiwal incident sent shock waves across the country after one of the surviving children who witnessed the episode refuted the version of the CTD.

The CTD had identified one of the deceased as Zeeshan. The department said he was wanted in several cases of crime, including the kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, and several American citizens.

Another man and two women were killed in the incident. They were identified as Khalil, Nabila, and Areeba, who was 14 years old. Khalil and Nabila were the parents of the injured boy. The deceased hailed from Kot Lakhpat. The CTD department came under fire for killing unarmed people in what some people calling it a ‘shady encounter’.