Following the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar all the officials of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) involved in Sahiwal encounter were arrested on Saturday.
Buzdar has also departed for Sahiwal on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan where he will meet the relatives of the deceased.
Four persons including two women were shot dead by the CTD officers in a purportedly high-speed pursuit in Qadirabad area of Sahiwal city.
CTD claimed that the ‘terrorists’ were killed in an intelligence based operation (IBO). Three other terrorists including Shahid Jabar and Abdul Rahman managed to flee during the chase near the toll plaza of Sahiwal.
CTD claimed of confiscating explosives and weapons from the car adding that officers were investigating into the matter as part of the operation in Faisalabad on January 16.
Contrarily, an eye witness has told the media that the deceased were neither equipped with any weapon nor resisted officers whereas three children were also present in the car.
The eyewitnesses further said that the children while speaking to them at a nearby petrol station claimed that the “police has killed their parents”. “Following the firing incident, the police left the children at the petrol station where they spoke to us. A few minutes later, however, CTD officials returned and took the children with them to an undisclosed location,” the eyewitnesses added.
Menawhile, contradictions in statements from law enforcement agencies have raised further doubts over alleged encounter by CTD personnel.
In his statement, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sahiwal has now clarified that CTD personnel did not face any retaliation from those sitting inside the car.
