Sahiwal JIT fails to identify officer who ordered shooting

LAHORE: The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) on the Sahiwal extrajudicial killings raised more questions than answers as it missed the pivotal point: Who ordered the personnel to shoot at the family in the broad daylight.

In the JIT report available with Geo News, there is no mention of SSP Javaid Qamar's role in the said incident, as according to it the police officer was chasing the car but surprisingly was not present during the shootout and reached the site after 35 minutes.

The JIT said that the driver Zeeshan was in contact with terrorists based in Afghanistan, his mother and wife knew his links with them. It said that Zeeshan's brother also carries a suspicious role.

The JIT team has recommended putting Constable Ihtisham's name in the fourth schedule.

On January 19, four people 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.