Sahiwal tragedy: Cops aware of family's presence in car, JIT informed

CTD official reveals superiors ordered action despite presence of women, minor in the car

LAHORE: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) investigating the killing of four people including a teenager, was informed by a member of the Counter-Terrorism Department team that their superiors had been informed about the presence of a family in the vehicle before "taking action".

Sources said a CTD sub-inspector told the JIT that he was directives to carry out firing upon the car by his superior officers. He said when the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) offiicials chased the car, they saw women and children inside and informed the superiors.

"However, the officers ordered action despite the presence of women and minors in the vehicle," he told JIT officials.

The JIT sources said the investigation will be completed soon and the report will be sent to higher officials. Earlier, the CTD claimed that the officials could not see women and children due to the car’s tinted glasses.

The Sahiwal Tragedy

In what the LEAs described as an encounter with 'terrorists', four people including a teenage girl were killed when CTD officials opened fire upon a vehicle on a highway in the Qadirabad area of Sahiwal district. The LEAs also injured three minors who were in the car.

The police first identified the victims as “kidnappers” and then as “terrorists of a proscribed group”, raising doubts over the “encounter”.

The CTD claimed in a statement that the law enforcers 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. The police retaliated and four people, including two women, were killed by the “firing of their own accomplices” in the ensuing firefight by, according to the CTD.

The CTD's varrying versions, however, were dismissed by the seven-year-old survivor of the firing incident. A JIT constituted on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan to investigate the killing, held CTD responsible for murder of the innocent family.