Islamabad : The Counter Terrorism Department’s (CTD) officials, who have been under arrest over the suspicious encounter by the anti-terror squad wherein four people, including three members of a family, lost their lives on January 19, refused that they opened fire at the car.
According to reports, a joint investigation team tasked with probing the case investigated the four CTD officials, Safdar, Ramzan, Saifullah and Hasnain.
The CTD officials refused that they opened fire first when JIT members asked them who opened the fire at the car. Following this, the JIT members inquired then how did the four people sitting in the car die, to which, the officials replied that they were killed in firing by their accomplices on motorcycles.
Reports further state that the JIT members also questioned the officials about who gave the orders to fire at the people in the car and they once again refused to have opened fire first. “Nobody ordered us, we only fired in retaliation,” the officials added.
It is pertinent to mention here after the January 19 incident, CTD officials had initially claimed those killed in the shooting were terrorists belonging to the proscribed Daesh (ISIS) militant organisation.
The CTD spokesperson had identified one of them, Zeeshan, as an active member of the banned outfit, explaining that the terrorists used to travel with families to avoid police checking.
The team was conducting a joint intelligence-based operation on the basis of information from the CTD and a sensitive agency, the spokesperson had said, adding that they had to retaliate when they came under fire from those in the car.
The next day, the CTD had changed its story, saying the force was actually following Zeeshan — the man behind the wheel of the car that was showered with bullets — because he was a facilitator of terrorists, and regretted the killing of Khalil and his wife and daughter.
On Wednesday, the Punjab government acknowledged that the “method of encounter” followed by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Sahiwal was wrong as the officials should have checked the vehicle before opening fire.
On Tuesday, family members of the victims appeared before Senate Standing Committee on Interior over the matter. They demanded the formation of a judicial commission to probe the killing and refer the case to military courts. They have also said that they are dissatisfied with the joint investigation team (JIT) investigating the incident.
“We are not satisfied with the JIT’s investigation,” the mother of Zeeshan, one of the victims, told the committee.
“The police that are investigating [the incident] are the ones who committed the killings,” she added, while requesting the prime minister to provide justice. “All we want is justice.”
