Sahiwal killings: Evidence linking Zeeshan to terrorists found, intelligence sources claim

 

LAHORE: Intelligence sources have claimed they found strong evidence linking Zeeshan Javed, the car driver killed along with three members of a family in Sahiwal earlier this week, to a terrorist group.

Pictures of Zeeshan with Usman, a terrorist who was gunned down by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in an encounter in Faisalabad on January 15, were found in Zeeshan’s phone, intelligence sources said.

Moreover, the sources claimed the car under use by Zeeshan had been purchased in the name of Adeel Hafeez, another terrorist who was also gunned down in the January 15 encounter.

On January 19, four people – including three members of a family – were killed in an alleged encounter in Sahiwal. CTD personnel said 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.

The dead included a man, his wife and their teenage daughter, as well as Zeeshan, who was driving the car.

A Joint Investigation Team formed to probe the Sahiwal killings, in its initial report submitted to Punjab chief minister on Tuesday, mentioned negligence on part of the CTD officials. The report added that there was no link between the Khalil family killed in the incident and terrorism.