ISLAMABAD: The newly-appointed inspector general of police (IGP), Qazi Jamilur Rehman, visited the house of Osama Satti on Saturday to condole with his family and assured them that justice would be provided as the case was being investigated purely on merit.

IGP Rehman further said that progress on the case would be shared with the family as well as the public, informing the family that services of the five policemen involved in Osama’s killing had already been terminated.

On the other hand, police officers on condition of anonymity told Dawn that the police officials involved in the youth’s murder on Jan 2 were part of the Crisis Response Unit (CRT), which exclusively performs point duties in and around the Red Zone, and were not assigned patrolling duties.

Says case being probed on merit; accused policemen were part of Crisis Response Unit

CRT is a unit of the Anti-Terrorism Squad. Late on Jan 1, two teams of the CRT, each comprising five officials, were deployed at D-Chowk, and one of them was asked to report to an officer in I-9.

The officer met the team at a petrol pump and briefed it about their duty on Srinagar Highway and its adjacent areas, they said. After midnight, another officer replaced the one who had earlier briefed the team.

The CRT was created a decade ago by picking young and energetic officials from the ATS. It is part of the ATS but its responsibility is to counter terrorism activities. Since CRT’s creation, its officials were not deployed for any patrolling duties.

According to the officials, the CRT team that was called from D-Chowk on Jan 1 chased the car of Osama and murdered him.

The in-charge of the CRT team informed the police communication that they had intercepted and stopped a car, but there was no mention of the killing of the youth in the message.

The officers said it was revealed during preliminary investigation that the policemen had tried to escape from the spot after killing the youth but their in-charge stopped them till arrival of the officers.

Senior police officers were approached and asked about the CRT deployment in the area that day.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity and said three CRT teams were called to the area, two were deployed on I.J. Principal Road and one on Srinagar Highway on point duty.

The three CRT teams were called to the area keeping in view incidents of murders during robberies in the area, they said, the officials said, adding that a driver of a loaded truck and helper of another truck were killed in separate incidents in the areas of Sabzi Mandi and Shams Colony on Dec 2.

In another development, the capital administration requested the CDA to name a roundabout on Service Road East of G-9 as Osama Satti Shaheed Chowk.

Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Hamza Shafqaat in a letter addressed to the chief commissioner office stated that Osama was killed during a car chase near G-10 on Srinagar Highway by officials of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Jan 2.

“Now the family of the youth is protesting and demanding naming a chowk on Service Road East of Sector G-9 as Osama Satti Shaheed Chowk. It is, therefore, requested that the CDA may kindly be approached to consider the request.” Moreover, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) constituted to probe the killing of the youth has so far met only once since it started working.

Senior police officers told Dawn that in its first meeting on Monday the JIT recorded the statements of the five police officials involved in the killing.

The second meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday in which the JIT was to check the police record and also record statements of other police officials and officers who had reached the spot after the killing of the youth.

But the JIT’s Friday meeting was postponed till Saturday and could not be held on Saturday either due to unknown reasons. Apparently, there is uncertainty due to the decision of the authorities to constitute a judicial commission.

The officials said the JIT would probe the case as it was registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act and section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code. The JIT investigates such cases and prepares a challan for submission to the anti-terrorism court, they added.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2021