Justice to be ensured in Sahiwal incident: Basharat

LAHORE, Jan 20 (APP):Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat Sunday said justice would be ensured at any cost in the tragic incident of Sahiwal as a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) led by Additional Inspector General of Police (AGP) Ejaz Shah had been constituted to probe the matter.The JIT had been directed to conduct a transparent investigation and submit its report in three days, and a swift action would be taken against those who would be found responsible, he added.
Addressing a press conference along with provincial ministers Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, Mian Aslam Iqbal and
Mehmoodur Rasheed here, he said the government would certainly take care of the children of those killed in the shootout between a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) team and suspected terrorists near Sahiwal.
The government had also announced Rs 20 million as compensation for the affected family of Khalil, who along with his wife and a daughter, was also killed, he added.
Raja Basharat said a First Information Report (FIR) had also been filed on the complaint of Khalil’s relatives by nominating all those law-enforcers involved in the operation.
He said the CTD had started the operation on the basis of an information, and when the car was intercepted near Sahiwal, its driver Zeeshan opened fire at the security personnel, which led to a shoot-out.
Zeeshan’s car, he said, was seen parked with another car of terrorists. He was involved in giving refuge to the terrorists, who were involved in several acts of terror activities, he added. It was essential to arrest the terrorists to save the public from terrorist acts, the minister said.
He said Zeeshan gave a ride to the Khalil family in his car for transporting explosives safely to south Punjab. Khalil’s family seemed to be apparently ignorant about the fact the car was being used by terrorists, and had been under surveillance and was being monitored through the Safe City cameras.
Unfortunately, Khalil, his wife and the daughter became victims of circumstances, the minister added.
Meanwhile, the relatives of the deceased held a protest here. However, after registration of an FIR, they ended their protest and the road was opened for traffic. The Metro Bus service also remained suspended due to the protest.