LHC inquires name of officer who ordered Sahiwal operation

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday inquired for name of the officer who issued order for the Sahiwal police encounter, ARY News reported.

“Tell me, who gave the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials order to conduct the operation? Bring the record in which the CTD officer gave order for it,” the high court ordered adding that if the record was altered then everybody would be responsible for the consequences.

A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan was hearing the case on formation of judicial commission on the Sahiwal incident.

“Don’t beat about the bush, just tell us name of that officer,” the court inquired from the state prosecutor. The prosecutor replied that those who conducted the Sahiwal operation were behind the bars.

Read More: Heirs of Sahiwal shootout victims threaten protest if judicial commission not formed

Expressing displeasure over absence of the inspector general of Punjab police, the chief justice LHC wondered why he did not turn up despite being summoned.

The court said order was issued to not to conduct any such police encounter then how did it took place.

The prosecutor said victim Khalil’s brother was called several times but he was not getting involved in the inquiry.

The head of the joint investigation team apprised the high court that investigation was being carried forward with the help of surveillance camera footages and witnesses. The LHC said what benefit were the CCTV footages when you could not identify suspects through them.

Lawyer of the victim family Shehbaz Bukhari alleged the CTD officers were threatening and intimidating and they were pressurizing Khalil’s heirs to change their statements against them.

The Sahiwal Incident

Four people, including two women, were killed in a shady encounter involving the Punjab police’s Counter Terrorism Department (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 says 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. It also says he was the deputy chief of a banned outfit.

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’.