APS carnage: Judicial Commission records army general’s statement

PESHAWAR: The Judicial Commission holding an inquiry into the terrorist attack on the Army Public School and College has partially recorded the statement of Major General Inam Haider Malik, Director General of the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

“Major General Inam Haider Malik was then a brigadier and prime witness in the APS carnage as he had conducted court of inquiry of the incident,” Imranullah, the focal person for the Judicial Commission, told the media on Monday. He said that FWO DG has already appeared for two days and partially recorded his statement before the commission. “The commission suspended proceedings till one week on his request due to his necessary engagement. The commission asked him to communicate his next appearance before the commission within a week,” the focal person said. He added that the commission would decide after recording the statement of Maj Gen Inam Haider Malik to finalise the report or summon other military officers for taking statements in the inquiry.

Earlier, several military officers recorded their statements before the commission. They included former Peshawar Corps Commander retired Lt Gen Hidayat ur Rehman, who was patron-in-chief of the Army Public School and College at the time of the December 2014 attack, as well as secretary of the APS Board of Governors, Major Imran. He said the commission headed by Justice Muhammad Ibrahim Khan had also recorded the statement of Brig Mudassir Azam, former chairman Board of Governors of the institution. Brig Inayatullah, who had led the operation against the attackers holed up at the APS, and Major Dr Asim Shahzad. The commission’s focal person said that Major Dr Asim Shahzad was an important witness of the APS incident as he was taking first-aid class in the auditorium at the time of the terrorist attack and most of the students were martyred there. He added that it was the demand of the aggrieved parents, whose children were martyred in the attack, to include Major Dr Asim Shahzad in the inquiry.

During the proceedings, it was witnessed that the commission consumed more than one day in recording statements of the military officers.

On the other hand, the commission had taken one day to record statements of the current and former police chiefs of the province and other officials. A total of 149 people including military and police officers, parents and injured students have recorded their statements before the inquiry commission. As many as 147 people, including 132 students, were martyred in the attack carried out by six militants affiliated with the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on December 16, 2014.

The then chief justice of Pakistan had taken notice of the issue last year during his visit to Peshawar, where parents of the martyred students, mostly mothers, approached him with their grievances. The prime demand of the parents was fixing responsibility for negligence by the officers concerned due to which the attack had taken place.