LAHORE: Faisal Town investigation police did not initiate investigation into the Model Town killings case on Friday for, what official claimed, their lack of access to the Minhajul Quran Secretariat and Dr Tahirul Qadri’s residence for crime scene inspection.

A senior police investigator told Dawn Faisal Town Investigation In Charge Muhammad Ejaz Rasheed, who would investigate the high-profile case involving Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, five federal ministers, former law minister Rana Sanaullah, MNA Hamza Shahbaz and senior police officers, would inspect the site for evidence collection and mapping as the first step into the probe.

Also read: Model Town case: FIR registered against Nawaz, Shahbaz and 19 others

Police registered a first information report (FIR) into the killings of 14 people of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) in Model Town during an operation to remove blast walls outside the Minhajul Quran Secretariat on June 17.

He said Mr Rasheed, who was to inspect two places on Friday, did not visit the scenes owing to controversy over the FIR which PAT chief Dr Qadri rejected because it did not include the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The investigator claimed police inserted relevant sections in the case as per the spirit of the application submitted to police by the PAT lawyers.

He said police had yet to receive any court orders for the insertion of 7-ATA in the FIR.

He said the investigation officer would hold independent investigation into the second case which was altogether opposite in accusations as in the first case police was the complainant and had nominated PAT leaders and activists as suspects.

The investigator said they would analyse contents of both FIRs, but would not incorporate the findings of a joint investigation team (JIT) which were one-sided.

Capital City Police Officer retired Captain Amin Wains told Dawn the investigation officer had initiated his formal work by writing the first case file about the crime scene inspection and sending notices to the complainants.

He said the investigation deputy inspector general and the Model Town superintendent of police would supervise investigation. He said the investigation officer could get guidelines from the JIT report in the first case, but he would listen to both sides contrary to the investigation process in the first case in which the PAT did not cooperate with the JIT.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2014