LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Tuesday postponed his engagements due to the Sahiwal incident and presided over a meeting to review the law and order situation in the province.
“The entire nation is saddened over the tragic incident. The pain and suffering of innocent children cannot be described in words,” he said during the meeting.
The chief minister added that the Punjab government would not let the children of deceased Khalil be alone and the government fully sympathised with the bereaved family.
“The state will leave no stone unturned to look after the family,” Buzdar said and added that those who were responsible for the cruelty would not evade punishment.
“They will be brought to justice and the entire nation will witness it,” he concluded.
LAW MINISTER:
Meanwhile, Provincial Law Minister Muhammad Basharat Raja made it clear that justice would be served in the Sahiwal tragedy at all costs.
Speaking to media outside the Punjab Assembly, he said CM Usman Buzdar had already convened a high-level meeting in which the joint investigation team (JIT) report would be thoroughly reviewed.
He assured that if the government would not be satisfied with the report the chief minister would decide constitution of a judicial commission.
When asked whether or not the Sahiwal incident was an act of terrorism, the law minister said to say anything in this regard would be premature as an in-depth investigation was underway.
Four people, including three members of a family, were killed in an alleged encounter in Sahiwal on Saturday. CTD personnel said they had killed a local commander of a militant organisation and three others in the operation. However, eyewitnesses and three children, whose parents were killed, disputed the claim.
The killings were witnessed by surviving members of the family, which included three minors.
The initial postmortem report revealed driver Zeeshan sustained 10 bullets, the parents Mohammad Khalil and Nabeela Bibi received 13 and four bullets while their teenage daughter Areeba sustained six. From the survivors, Umair sustained one bullet in his right leg while Muneeba’s hand was injured when the bullets shattered the car’s glass.
