Khalil’s family rejects JIT report, demands judicial probe

F.P. Report

LAHORE: The family of Khalil, who was killed along with his wife and daughter in police encounter in Sahiwal on Jan 19, has rejected the report of the joint investigation team (JIT) that declared his slain family members ‘innocent.’

Jalil, brother of Khalil, said he had never given any such statement claiming that Zeeshan had contacts with the terrorists. The JIT report is based on incorrect information, he added.

The lawyer of Jalil said principally the copy of the report should have first been given to brother of Zeeshan, who is accused of sheltering terrorists of banned outfit. Zeeshan was driving a vehicle carrying family of Zeeshan when Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel sprayed them with bullets on Jan 19, calling them terrorists.

The counsel said Zeeshan had been declared terrorist before an investigation. He said the case was being manipulated to protect top officials.

He demanded that a judicial commission be formed to probe the incident thoroughly.

Jalil said his family didn’t accept the JIT report and reiterated his demand to form a judicial commission for inquiry.

Earlier in the day, the JIT of Sahiwal police encounter incident in its final report declared the deceased Khalil and his family members innocent. However, sources said, the JIT report revealed that dozens of messages were found in Zeeshan’s phone establishing his contact with suspected criminals.

“The intelligence report was also about Zeeshan. While, Khalil’s family could have been saved, but the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) officials misused their authority,” the report added.

The sources said all those six officials involved in firing were arrested, while no traces of firing from inside the car were found. Khalil was killed along with his wife, daughter and another man Zeeshan in a shady encounter involving the Punjab police’s CTD on a highway in the Qadirabad area of Sahiwal district on January 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 said Zeeshan 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. It had also claimed he was the deputy chief of a banned outfit.