Sahiwal tragedy: LHC summons JIT head

Court asks for a complete record of the Sahiwal incident

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Thursday issued orders to the head of the joint investigation team probing the Sahiwal tragedy to appear in court on January 28, reported Express News.

Heading a two-member bench constituted to hear the matter, LHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan also asked for the complete record of the matter.



The court was informed by Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Amjad Javed Saleemi that the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials involved in the incident have been suspended from service.



In addition, the province's top police official informed the court that a total of 30 days had been allotted to investigate the incident.

On January 19, the CTD claimed in a statement that they signalled a Suzuki Alto car and a motorcycle to stop near Sahiwal Toll Plaza on GT Road, but they did not pull over and instead opened fire on the police.

The CTD officials retaliated and four people, including two women, were killed by the “firing of their own accomplices” in the ensuing firefight, according to the CTD.

The operation was a follow-up of the January 15 Faisalabad raid and that they were tracing two wanted terrorists of the Islamic State (IS) militant group, Shahid Jabbar and Abdur Rehman, who were listed in the ‘red book’, they added.

“This network was involved in the killing of three officials of a sensitive agency in Multan and a police officer in Faisalabad. They were also involved in the killing of American aid worker Warran Weinstein and abduction of former chief minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s son.”

However, later it transpired that except for Zeeshan, all other occupants of the car were an innocent family. They were identified as Khalil, his wife Nabeela, and daughter Areeba.

Khalil’s son Mohammad Umair and two daughters Muniba and Jaziba were also wounded in the operation. The incident triggered a nationwide outrage and calls for the government to come clean on the shady operation.

A JIT formed to probe into the incident confirmed that the family was innocent and that the CTD officials were responsible for their killing. Subsequently, the Punjab government removed some top CTD officials and suspended others, while announcing to try five CTD officials responsible for the killings on terrorism and murder charges.