PM asks Punjab govt to challenge Sahiwal verdict

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday ordered the Punjab government to file an appeal against the verdict of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) which acquitted all the suspects involved in the Sahiwal killings case.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan said the Premier had expressed concern over the acquittal of all six suspects in the Sahiwal case. Awan tweeted that a high-level committee will also be formed to highlight and investigate the weaknesses of the prosecution team in the case.

The ATC in Lahore on Thursday acquitted all the suspects involved in the Sahiwal “encounter” on the basis of the benefit of doubt. The case was heard by ATC-1 judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta. The suspects included Safdar Hussain, Ahsan Khan, Ramzan, Saifullah, Hasnain and Nasir Nawaz.

The court dismissed the statements given by 49 witnesses, including the victim Zeeshan’s brother Ehtisham and victim Khalil’s children. The witnesses refused to identify the suspects before the court. On January 19, four people, including three of a family, were killed in an alleged shootout in Sahiwal, with the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel claiming they had killed a local commander of militant organisation Daesh and three others in the operation.

Eyewitnesses, however, disputed the claim and said the people in the car did not fire at officials, nor were any explosives recovered from the vehicle. A Joint Investigation Team formed to probe the killings in its final report submitted last month said the slain family members were innocent and they were wrongly murdered. The report also recommended strict action against the CTD officials who made changes in the record.