PESHAWAR: The Judicial Commission probing the 2014 Army Public School carnage has asked a senior army officer to appear before the commission to record statement about the militant attack, which had killed 147 people, mostly students.

The commission’s focal person, Imranullah Khan, told reporters that Major-General Inam Haider Malik, who currently worked as the director general of Frontier Works Organisation, had recorded statement for two days before Eidul Fitr but it remained incomplete due to his official engagements.

He said the commission has informed the officer’s personal secretary to provide his boss’s schedule of appearance within a week.

The focal person said Major General Inam Haider’s statement was of importance as at the time of the APS attack, he was a brigadier, who later conducted an inquiry into the incident.

The commission consisting of Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan of the Peshawar High Court had sent a letter to the defence ministry on Feb 11 for the appearance of eight army officers, including Major-General Inam Haider for recording their statement in connection with the APS attack, which had left 147 people, mostly students, dead.

In April, the commission had sent a reminder to the ministry for informing it about the dates on which the said army officers would be available for recording statements.

The ministry said in response that the officers were not able to turn up before the commission in light of Indo-Pak border tensions.

It, however, said as soon as the situation improved, the officers would appear before the probe body.

The army officers include Major General Inam Haider of the Engineering Corps, the chairman of Board of Governor of Army Public Educational Institutions prior to the occurrence retired Brigadier Abdul Naeem Bhatti, acting commanding officer Major Abdul Latif, Lieutenant Colonel Muzzafaruddin Ansari, Lieutenant Colonel Jamil Ahmad Lakhiar, Major Mohammad Asjad Bugti, Major Aamir Shah, who had also suffered injuries in the attack, and Major Doctor Zahid Cheema of Army Medical Corps.

Imranullah said the commission conducting in-camera proceedings due to sensitivity of the matter had so far recorded the statements of 149 people, including army officers, police officials, injured students and parents of martyred children.

The key army officers, whose statements have been recorded, include former Peshawar Corps Commander Lt-General Hidayatur Rehman, former chairman of Army Public Educational Institutions BoG Brigadier Mudassir Azam, an officer of 102 Brigade, HQ-11 Corps, Brigadier Inayatullah, Major Doctor Asim Shehzad of Army Medical Corps, and secretary of the BoG Colonel Hazrat Bilal.

The commission has already recorded the statements of some senior police officials, including former provincial police officers Salahuddin Mehsud and Nasir Durrani, former DIG of Counter Terrorism Department Mohammad Alam Shinwari, former secretary of home and tribal affairs department Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, former capital city police officer Ijaz Khan, former SP (cantonment) Faisal Shehzad and former SP (city) Mustafa Tanveer, and others.

The commission formed by the Peshawar High Court on Oct 12 on the order of the Supreme Court had become functional on Oct 19.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2019