2009 drone strike: Islamabad police registers case against former CIA chief

Police transfer case to Fata secretariat as it did not take place in an area under their jurisdiction

The Islamabad police on Thursday registered a murder case against former CIA station chief Jonathan Banks for his alleged involvement in a surgical strike that killed family members of an anti-drone activist.

However, the police has transferred the case to Fata secretariat on the grounds that the crime did not take place in an area that falls under their jurisdiction.

Secretariat police formally registered a murder case against Banks under Sections 302 (murder), 319 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The case was registered following the direction of Islamabad High Court (IHC).

On April 6, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the IHC directed Secretariat police to register a case against the former official; however, the police stated the incident did not fall in their jurisdiction and legal branch of the police kept the matter in their custody since April 6.

Read: Drone strikes: SHO summoned for failure to book top American spy

However, the police said that even though they had registered the matter against the ex-CIA chief at Secretariat police station, they have transferred the matter on to Fata secretariat as it did not fall under their jurisdiction.

Station House Officer, Secretariat police Muhammad Nawaz Bhatti, told The Express Tribune that police only complied with the IHC’s direction, as the incident did not took place in their jurisdiction.

He said the police will submit the report before the court when the hearing will take place. When asked how the police can quash or transfer the FIR, the officer replied, under police rules 27 and 28 police can quash the FIR.

However, the victim’s counsel, Mirza Shahzad Akbar, said police cannot transfer or quash the FIR before presenting a report before the court.

Akbar said that the former CIA chief was residing in Islamabad, operating from the capital, and therefore, the case should proceed in the capital.

Akbar said he will file a fresh petition in the IHC next week against the police for transferring the case to Fata.