Daily Times

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday sought a reply from the Punjab government into the Sahiwal tragedy, in which four people were gunned down by the CTD personnel in 2019.

A two-member bench of the SC comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Yahya Afridi while hearing a case related to bail of a cop named in a murder case, asked about the action in the Sahiwal tragedy.

“Innocent people were gunned down on a phone call in front of children,” remarked Justice Isa. Unable to understand what the Punjab government and police are doing, he added.

The additional prosecutor general Punjab responded that the case is under-trial at the high court. Justice Qazi Faiz Isa directed the additional prosecutor general Punjab to present a report on the Sahiwal tragedy.

In January 2019, four people, including two women, were killed in a shady encounter involving the Punjab police’s counter-terrorism department (CTD) on a highway in the Qadirabad area of Sahiwal district on Saturday noon.

The CTD officials maintained that a car was signalled to stop along with a bike near Sahiwal Toll Plaza but the alleged terrorists resorted to firing, adding that three terrorists were able to flee away. “This incident was a continuation of the Jan 16 operation carried out in Faisalabad.” The victims were identified as grocery store owner Mohammad Khalil, his wife Nabila, their 13-year-old daughter Areeba and their friend who was driving the car, Zeeshan Javed. Their son Umair Khalil sustained bullet wounds while his sister Muniba’s hand also sustained gunshot-related injuries and Hadiba, their younger sister remained unhurt.