LAHORE: A departmental proceeding has been initiated to keep a watchful eye on Dolphin Force official Ehtisham, the brother of alleged terrorist Zeeshan Javed, after the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) declared him a “suspect”.

Headed by Additional IG Ijaz Hussain Shah, the JIT recommended proceedings to include him in the Fourth Schedule.

The Fourth Schedule is a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected of terrorism and/or sectarianism under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997. After credible intelligence information, a name of an individual is included in the fourth schedule as prescribed by the Home Department and can be subjected to restrictions on travel, speech and business.

The JIT had proposed action against Ehtisham after declaring his brother Zeeshan Javed, one of the victims of the infamous Sahiwal shootout, a ‘terrorist’. It declared that Zeeshan had contacts with the terrorists belonging to the Islamic State (IS) among whom many were proclaimed offenders of Red Book.

An official privy to the information told Dawn that Ehtisham had been put “under surveillance” in connection with the JIT findings. The authorities called him back to the Dolphin Squad headquarters from the field assignment following the departmental proceedings. “They took back from him the official 9MM Beretta pistol, the motorbike and and other gadgets, directing him to report to the headquarters,” he said.

It had also been decided to depute him on an ‘unarmed duty’ on the premises of the headquarters as a protective measure, the official said. He said Ehtisham had been allotted official weapon and bike and assigned patrolling duty after completion of his training in 2016. His last assignment was to patrol the Model Town Division, he said, adding that soon after the Sahiwal incident, Ehtisham went on a 15-day leave to pursue the case of his brother’s murder.

Meanwhile, he said, the JIT’s investigation started and a report recommended action against him because of his suspicious activities. The official further said the senior command had been directed not to equip Ehtisham with official weapon for any next assignment and that the suspected cop must be engaged on the premises of the Dolphin Squad headquarters.

However, no process has yet been initiated to include his name in the list of the fourth schedulers as recommended by the JIT report.

Answering a question, he said Ehtisham had no criminal record in any police station of the city or other part of the province when he was recruited by the Dolphin Force. He would be kept under surveillance in the wake of the JIT investigation till next orders, he said.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2019