A FAMILY returning from Hajj recently met a horrifying fate in Chakwal. The tragic sequence of events began when highway robbers intercepted the family. A lone police constable intervened, firing a premature gunshot before securing backup. While this caused the robbers to flee, it was a dangerously futile tactic that escalated an already volatile situation without securing the victims.

Terrified and desperate to get his family to safety, the father accelerated the vehicle away from the danger zone. When police backup finally arrived, the party displayed a catastrophic lack of situational awareness. Mistaking the fleeing victims for criminals, police personnel unleashed a barrage of bullets from their assault rifles directly at the ill-fated vehicle, killing three of them.

The use of force was disproportionate and unjustified by any yardstick. Standard police protocols dictate immobilising a vehicle by targeting the tyres or executing a tactical intercept. Instead, the responders acted with lethal intent and completely ignored the fact that a car on a highway is a common everydaysight, and not an immediate licence to open fire. The Punjab government must look beyond individual scapegoats and completely overhaul police engagement rules to ensure no other family faces such an unjustified fate.

Mudasir Ali
Larkana

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2026