ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Monday expressed concern over deaths resulting from operations conducted by Punjab’s Crime Control Department (CCD), calling for a judicial inquiry.

The remarks come after a fact-finding report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for an urgent high-level judicial inquiry into deaths during CCD operations. It should be mentioned that the CCD had rejected the HRCP’s report, terming claims of staged encounters and extrajudicial actions as unfounded and contrary to the department’s operational framework.

In a statement issued on Monday, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram questioned how so many deaths were possible in alleged encounters.

“During the last eight months, as many as 670 encounters and 924 deaths have been reported. What is happening in Punjab? Is it an official state policy?” Akram asked.

He asked why the government was silent on the report issued by the HRCP and why its findings were not being taken seriously.

“Will the law be enforced through courts or through encounters? Under which law have such powers been given to the CCD?” he asked.

Akram demanded that an independent judicial inquiry be conducted to investigate every reported death. He said that public trust would continue to dwindle if transparency was not ensured.

He said that no institution could be allowed to carry out extrajudicial actions under any circumstances.

Calling on the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to clarify the powers granted to the CCD, he said: “No individual or institution can be given authority above the law.”

Last year, the Punjab government had formally approved the establishment of the CCD to curb organised crime and protect life and property in the province

Last week, however, the HRCP’s fact-finding report alleged that the department has adopted a “deliberate policy of staged police encounters leading to extrajudicial killings”.

According to the HRCP, based on press accounts, at least 670 CCD-led encounters were carried out across Punjab over eight months in 2025. These operations reportedly resulted in the deaths of 924 suspects, while only two police officials were killed during the same time frame, it said.

The HRCP noted that the sharp disparity in casualties — averaging more than two fatal encounters per day — alongside similar operational patterns reported across districts, pointed to what it described as an “institutionalised practice” rather than isolated incidents of misconduct.

Meanwhile, the CCD said earlier this week that a comparative review of crime data for the post-May period of 2024 and 2025 showed a significant reduction in crime across Punjab, particularly in Lahore.

In a press release, the department stated that it did not follow any policy of staged encounters and operated strictly within the Constitution of Pakistan, the Police Order 2002 and applicable criminal procedure laws. The department maintained that arrests remained the primary objective of its operations and that the use of force was governed by the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality.