Meeting in Lahore on Friday, the JIT lamented that neither eyewitnesses, nor the complainants had appeared before it owing to Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s (PAT) rejection of the commission.
CCPO Quetta Abdul Razzaq Cheema had chaired the JIT comprising SSP Shehzad Akbar, DSP Khalid Abu Bakr, Colonel Ahmad of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Muhammad Ali of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
The JIT decided to issue notices to witnesses and complainants.
According to police sources, the JIT had also written a letter to the legal department a few days ago inquiring about its role in the case, adding that both the complainants and eyewitnesses have yet to respond.
The Minhajul Quran (MUQ) and PAT have refused to recognise the JIT. PAT President Dr Raheeq Abbasi had rejected the JIT stating that the team was an attempt to provide the accused with a ‘clean chit.’
Abbasi added his party had not been taken into confidence regarding the constitution of the team, and the PAT did not endorsed the nomination of CCPO Cheema for heading the team. He claimed that an impartial probe could not be carried out under Cheema as he was from Punjab, and that he had close ties with leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
“Only one person included from the ISI means nothing if the team is headed by a partial officer. All he can do is to write a dissent note at the end of the investigation, as it was in the report of the first JIT,” said Abbasi.
The PAT leader added that his party now believes that only way an impartial inquiry can be done is if CM Punjab resigns from his post. “This [his resignation] is our sole demand now,” said Abbasi.
A clash between police and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers outside the MuQ headquarters in Model Town on June 17 left 14 PAT workers and 90 others were injured.
The police had filed an FIR of the Model Town incident against MuQ activists on the same day the incident had occurred.
However, another FIR of the incident was registered on August 28 on the complaint of the MUQ International Secretariat director Jawad Hamid.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and the former Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah had been nominated in the second FIR.
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CCPO and the police should not have been on this investigation team, I remember the video which showed the police standing by while this Butt guy went on rampage damaging cars. Punjab police has no credibility any more and MHQ and PAT is right in their suspicions. In any other civilized country the Chief Ministers equivalent would have resigned long time ago but in Pakistan they stick to these powerful chairs like they own it. If any one has any doubt about Shabaz Sharif's involvement, all they have see his way of running the government in Punjab. He always micro-manage the administration and it was him who has ordered the massacre in Model Town. I am confident that time is running out for Shabaz and he will face the law of the land in the court of law unless he runs away from the country like he did it before. They should realize by now that Pakistan is going through some changes and the young generation is not about to support the same old governing, the nation is already waking up.