‘Justice incomplete without trial of Shehbaz, former IGP’

PAT demands all police personnel indicted in the case be removed from their posts

LAHORE: Pakistan Awami Teehrik (PAT) Secretary General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur has said those indicted in Model Town massacre must be removed from their posts forthwith and the main accused, Shehbaz Sharif and former IGP Mushtaq Sukhera, be made part of the trial.

Talking to the media persons after the indictment of DIG Rana Abdul Jabbar and 116 other police officials by an anti-terrorist court, he said there was at least some progress in the dispensation of justice. “PAT is fully concentrating on the achievement of justice under the supervision and guidance of Dr Tahirul Qadri,” he said.

“Only those police officers who were used as pawns in the Model Town massacre have been charged. None of those who planned and directed from behind the scenes were summoned,” he remarked.

“The main accused of Model Town incident, former IG Punjab Police Mushtaq Sukhera, was also summoned by an anti-terrorist court, but he approached the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking a stay order. “He is trying to save his skin but we hope the LHC will dismiss the application of the accused and issue necessary directions to make him part of the trial.”

Gandapur said if police officers involved in Model Town incident retained their posts, even after being inducted, then a fair trial would not be possible. “And if the Sharif brothers, Rana Sanaullah and their accomplices are not caught and made part of the trial, the dispensation of justice will remain incomplete,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 13^th, 2018.