SAHIWAL: The brother of Muhammad Khalil, one of the victims of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) firing in Sahiwal, has once again expressed his distrust of the investigation and demanded withdrawal of the case registered against the deceased.

“The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) says there is no evidence of firing by any of the car occupants (including driver Zeeshan) and there is no truth in the claim of recovery of an abandoned motorcycle on Lahore-Multan motorway. Therefore, the FIR 2/19 registered on behalf the CTD in Lahore on Jan 19 should be withdrawn,” Jalil demanded.

Jalil, who is a complainant of FIR 33/19 lodged against 16 CTD officials at the Yousafwala police station on the day of the incident, is expected to visit Sahiwal to record his statement to Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Shakeel Goraya, the judicial inquiry officer. Mr Goraya was appointed JIO on the direction of the Lahore High Court and Jalil earlier appeared before the judge on Feb 28.

Jalil told Dawn that Punjab government spokesperson Shahbaz Gill confirmed to the media that the JIT report had rejected that firing was done from inside car or from motorcyclists as claimed in the FIR by the CTD. He said the FIR was fabricated and must be withdrawn to ensure transparent investigation into the case.

The family of late Khalil had protested for 14 hours by placing the bodies first at the DHQ hospital and later at a hotel to have a case registered against the CTD officials.

The Punjab police subsequently captured six CTD officials who were alleged to have been involved in the operation at Qadirabad. The CTD officials are on judicial remand these days.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2019