PM ‘agrees to’ judicial probe into Sahiwal incident

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday “agreed to” the formation of a judicial commission to probe Sahiwal ‘shootout’ — a demand put forward by the victims’ family three months ago, media reports said.

Prime Minister Khan met the families of Sahiwal incident victims and distributed compensation cheques among them. Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar was also present during the meeting which took place in Lahore, a PM Office statement said.

The relatives of the victims expressed their reservations that the government had not yet accepted any of their demands. The Premier assured the family the government would try to accept all of their demands and handed over cheques.

Media reports quoted Mohammad Jalil, the brother of victim Khalil, as saying the Premier agreed to the family’s demand of a judicial probe into the incident. “Prime Minister Imran Khan agreed to all three of our demands and assured us that they will be met,” Jalil was quoted as saying.

Khan said human life could not be compensated and the government shared the loss with the family. On January 19, four people were killed by counter-terrorism officials in Punjab, on a busy thoroughfare outside Lahore. Those shot dead included, Muhammad Khalil, his wife, their 13-year-old daughter and the driver of the car, Zeeshan Javed.

According to the official version of the events, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel were chasing terrorists and Khalil and his family were “collateral damage”. But videos, which later surfaced on the social media, showed the men in uniform firing directly at the car and refuted official claims of an exchange of fire.