QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri has suspended the head of Quetta’s police training academy and two other officials in the wake of the attack on Monday which claimed 63 lives and injured over 160 cadets.

According to an official notification issued late on Thursday night, the chief minister took the action after initial investigations said the three police officers had shown “negligence to security” of the Police Training College (PTC).

The three officials suspended, with immediate effect, were: Deputy Inspector General Tahir Naveed, the PTC Commandant; Deputy Commandant (SSP) Yameen Khan and Mohammad Ajmal Kasi, a deputy superintendent at PTC headquarters.

Immediate action against these police officers was aimed at stopping such incidents in future and to send a message to officials that they should not be “negligent in fulfilling their responsibilities”, official sources said.

They warned that strict action would be taken against all police officers and other employees if they were found guilty of negligence in carrying out their duties.

According to the sources, a joint investigation team had been set up to investigate the Oct 24 terror attack on Police Training College.

Brigadier Bilal Ali heads the team while among other members are Senior Superintendent, Police Investigation, Aitzaz Guraiya, and some officers of the Frontier Corps as well as other security agencies.

The team has been asked to submit its report after reviewing all aspects of the Quetta carnage.

The Provincial Apex Commi­ttee has written to the Balochistan High Court’s chief justice requesting him to set up a judicial commission for carrying out an inquiry into the PTC attack.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016