Sahiwal encounter: ‘We are not satisfied with JIT probe,’ says Khalil’s brother

ISLAMABAD: The heirs of Sahiwal shootout victims have expressed dissatisfaction over probe being conducted by the joint investigation team (JIT), ARY News reported Tuesday.

Speaking to media before leaving for Islamabad to take part in Senate standing committee meeting, Jalil, brother of the deceased Khalil, said the statement by their lawyer regarding threats was in his personal capacity.

He opined that it would have been better if the judicial commission was formed instead of the joint investigation team (JIT).

We are not satisfied with the probe of JIT, he stated.

Jalil’s family will meet the Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior today after the Upper House body invited them to record their statement.

The family of Khalil, who was killed along with his wife and daughter in the CTD encounter on Jan 19, reached Islamabad this morning.

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 almost ten days ago.

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.

The CTD insists that Zeeshan, who was among the deceased, was an associate of a banned terror organization who would provide shelter to terrorists. He said a group of terrorists had planned an attack at some places and Zeeshan was travelling to provide them explosives.

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’.