FAISALABAD: Activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Tuesday demonstrated at District Council Chowk as a mark of protest against the Joint Investigation Team’s ‘clean chit’ to the PML-N top guns in the Novelty Bridge incident.

They announced that they would challenge the JIT findings in the Lahore High Court and also stage another protest demonstration on Feb 6.

The Punjab government had formed a JIT headed by SSP (Investigation) Bilal Umar to probe the killing of PTI worker Haq Nawaz, who was shot dead on Dec 8 last during a PTI protest demonstration on Novelty Bridge.

Read: Funeral prayers of PTI activist offered in Faisalabad

The JIT completed its investigation and filed the challan on Monday last.

The PTI rejected the investigation saying the JIT had clearly favoured State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, former Punjab law minister Rana Sanaullah, DCO Noorul Amin Mengal, MPA Tahir Jameel and Rana Shehryar, son-in-law of Rana Sana.

Holding the PTI flags and banners inscribed with the demand for the arrest of the killer(s) of Haq Nawaz, the protesters blocked traffic for more than one hour and chanted slogans against the JIT.

Atta Khan, brother of Haq Nawaz, said a senior police officer had called him and asked him to distance himself from Haji Yaqoob Rasim, a witness to the incident. However, he said the family would leave no stone unturned to get justice.

PTI Faisalabad President Rana Raheel, while speaking to reporters, commented that “Rana Sanaullah had been heading the JIT which exonerated him and others of the allegation of meeting at his (Sana’s) outhouse a day before the protest.”

He said when the JIT was formed, Atta had submitted an application in which he mentioned that three of the five members of the team were close associates of Rana Sana. He said the government was not serious in dispensing justice to the grieved family as it did not bother to remove such officers from the JIT.

He said instead of grilling the suspects, the team spent most of the time investigating the witnesses. The PTI would file a writ petition in the LHC against the JIT decision, he added. A case was registered against the PML-N politicians and the DCO under section 109 of PPC but the JIT got the section deleted, he said.

“Innocent people of the PTI had been booked under section 7-ATA whereas the parliamentarians and their aides who had orchestrated the plan of killing our workers are being exculpated,” said Raheel.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2015

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