Family alleges cover-up in officer's 'suicide' probe

Haji Muhammad Taj Bhatti, father of former PHA Director-General and ex-Deputy Director Finance of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Junaid Taj Bhatti — who died after sustaining a gunshot wound to the temple in his Sialkot office on May 13 this year — has termed his son's death a murder.

He has appealed to the government and the Chief of Army Staff for a transparent, merit-based investigation. The grieving father has also raised a series of pointed questions about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Bhatti said he remained wholly dissatisfied with the inquiry so far, alleging that his son had been "removed from the way" and that efforts were being made to shift responsibility onto a deceased individual. He listed several questions for which, he said, no convincing answers had been provided.

He asked why any inquiry against Junaid Taj — if one existed during his lifetime — had never been made public. He noted that immediately after the incident on the evening of May 13, 2025, a meeting was convened at the RDA headquarters at 8pm and continued late into the night and into the next morning.

He questioned what work was being conducted at the office during those hours and whether any records were altered. He further asked why RDA employees travelled to Sialkot so swiftly after the shooting, ostensibly to gather information.

Bhatti also claimed that when his son was admitted to hospital in a critical condition, a ventilator was not attached, yet by roughly 8.30pm electronic media outlets had already confirmed his death.