LAHORE: Scores of people including relatives of the family killed by a team of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Sahiwal took to the street and vent their anger over the incident.

They blocked Ferozepur Road at Chungi Amar Sidhu and raised slogans against the CTD officials demanding action against them. The deceased had been living in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat area.

The four-hour long agitation threw traffic out of gear as hundreds of vehicles were stuck in long queues. Initially they announced that they would march on The Mall but dispersed later after senior police officers reached there and held negotiations with them.

Meanwhile, the relatives of Khalil and Zeeshan, the two persons among those killed in firing by the CTD, denied any link (of the deceased) with the proscribed organisation.

“My brother Khalil was innocent and killed along with his wife and daughter on the basis of fabricated reports of the CTD,” Naeem told the media. He said it was a case of extrajudicial killings and demanded registration of a murder case against the officials under anti-terrorism charges.

Mr Naeem said his brother was running a general store in the area and had no criminal record.

“Zeeshan was living next to the street of Khalil’s place and both were childhood friends,” he said, adding that his brother had requested Zeeshan for accompanying him to attend the wedding ceremony of his (Khalil) younger brother in Burewala.

Some neighbours also endorsed the claims of Naeem saying both were living a normal life in the area and were not involved in suspicious activities.

“Zeeshan was running a shop of computer repairing in the area where he had been living for the last 25 years” Shahid Ahmad, his neighbour, said. He said Zeeshan’s brother Ehtesham got a job in the Dolphin Squad in Lahore almost one year ago and he and his family had undergone a strict process of security clearance.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2019