–Punjab govt plea says either probe was ‘flawed or witnesses changed their statement under pressure’
LAHORE: The Punjab government on Monday filed a petition in Lahore High Court (LHC) against the acquittal of suspects in the Sahiwal firing incident which saw the death of four civilians at the hands of Punjab Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).
The appeal was filed at the Lahore High Court (LHC) by Additional Prosecutor Abdul Samad Khan. According to the petition, either the investigation into the incident was “flawed or witnesses had changed their statements under pressure”.
On Thursday, Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta acquitted all six CTD officers accused of being directly responsible for the cold-blooded killings, including that of a minor, by giving them the benefit of doubt.
However, the Punjab government on Friday challenged Judge Bhutta’s verdict following orders of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
The provincial government has also asked the court to take action against those who manipulated the investigation as well as those who altered their statements.
On January 19, Mohammad Khalil, his wife and their three children were travelling in a car, along with their neighbour Zeeshan who was driving when CTD officials opened fire on them without provocation.
The matter became a national controversy when the law enforcers admitted to having attacked the family and children claiming they had killed a local commander of militant organisation Daesh, terming it an ‘encounter’ which was proved false after Khalil’s two surviving children Umair and Muneeba narrated facts of the incident to the public.
Further, eyewitnesses also refuted CTD’s claims stating that the people in the car did not fire at the officials, nor were any explosives recovered from the vehicle.
Moreover, a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe into the incident confirmed that the family was innocent and that the CTD officials were responsible for their killing.
Subsequently, the Punjab government removed some top CTD officials and suspended others, while announcing that six CTD officials responsible for the killings would be tried on terrorism and murder charges.
Initially, the trial was conducted in Sahiwal, however, the Lahore High Court on June 17 shifted the proceedings to Lahore allowing an application filed by the victims’ family. The petitioners contended that they had been facing problems while attending trial proceedings in Sahiwal. They also cited security reasons and asked the court to shift the trial proceedings from Sahiwal to Lahore.
It may be mentioned here that the CTD has repeatedly been accused of pressuring the victims’ family to drop the case.
At a press conference, the family’s lawyer Shahbaz Bukhari presented a seven-minute recorded call wherein a CTD official threatened his life.
Due to apprehensions expressed by the victims’ family over the JIT, the Lahore High Court ordered a judicial inquiry. The judicial inquiry led by civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate Shakeel Goraya recorded the statements of 49 people including eyewitnesses, CTD suspects amongst others.