JIT vows provision of justice to heirs of Sahiwal shootout victims

F.P. Report

LAHORE: The joint investigation team (JIT), formed to probe the infamous CTD encounter that killed three of a family in Sahiwal on Jan 19, met the family of deceased victims on Tuesday to listen to their reservations on the probe.

JIT head Ejaz Shah assured provision of justice to Jalil, brother of Khalil who was killed by the Counter Terrorism Department personnel. The investigators requested the aggrieved family to cooperate with them in the probe.

Later in a brief interaction with the media, Jalil said the JIT had assured them of arresting culprits and dispensation of justice in the case. He, however, added that his family’s demand for constitution of judicial commission was still intact.

On Feb 3, the family of deceased Khalil had reiterated their dissatisfaction with the JIT and its ongoing probe. They also threatened to take to the streets if judicial commission was not formed to probe the shootout.

Four people, including two women, were killed in a shady encounter involving the Punjab police’s CTD on a highway in the Qadirabad area of Sahiwal district on Jan 19.

The Sahiwal incident sent shock waves across the country after one of the surviving children who witnessed the episode refuted the version of the CTD.

The CTD had identified one of the deceased as Zeeshan. The department said he was wanted in several cases of crime, including the kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, and several American citizens.

Another man and two women were killed in the incident. They were identified as Khalil, Nabila, and Areeba, who was 14 years old. Khalil and Nabila were the parents of the injured boy. The deceased hailed from Kot Lakhpat. The CTD department came under fire for killing unarmed people in what some people calling it a ‘shady encounter’.