CHAKWAL: The Chakwal police, on an order from a Chakwal district and sessions judge, have registered a new FIR against 37 nominated and 13 unidentified Ahmadi residents of the Dulmial village charged with murdering an individual on Dec 12, 2016, people sources said on Saturday.

Naeem Shafique, a resident from the neighbouring Tatral village, was shot and killed during an attack on an Ahmadi place of worship in Dulmial.

According to the FIR registered on Dec 12 and a report by a joint investigation team (JIT) on the incident, the place of worship was attacked by Muslims on Dec 12 and Shafique, who was part of the group that stormed the building, was shot and killed.

The first FIR booked 2,800 to 3,000 Muslims while the JIT declared four Ahmadi residents ‘guilty’. They, along with 57 Muslims, are still in prison and are being tried in an anti-terrorism court.

However, Shafique’s brother wanted a separate FIR registered for his brother’s murder. He filed an application with the Choa Saidan Shah police, who did not entertain his application because an FIR on the case was already registered.

He then approached a district and sessions judge who ordered the police to register an FIR, but the Chakwal police challenged the judge’s order before the Lahore High Court (LHC). The LHC dismissed the Chakwal police’s appeal.

A police official said: “An FIR is the basic right of every citizen, which is why the court ordered the registration of the FIR.” No further arrests have been made yet.

The applicant, Saad Raza, claimed in the FIR that an Eid Miladun Nabi congregation was passing through the village peacefully on Dec 12 when it was attacked by Ahmadis, who opened fire on the congregation and killed his brother.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2017