Court records statements in Sahiwal killings case

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of Sahiwal killings case till Sept 13.

ATC Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta conducted the proceedings wherein accused Counter-Terrorism Department officials, Safdar Hussain, Ahsan Khan, Ramzan, Saif-Ullah, Husnain and Nasir Nawaz, were produced.

The court recorded statements of victim Zeeshan’s brother, Ehtisham, and four other witnesses during the proceedings. The court partly recorded the statement of Ehtisham whereas remaining statement would be recorded on the next date of hearing. It is pertinent to mention here that the court has recorded statements of 20 witnesses so far in the case. Previously, victim Khalil’s brother Jalil and children, Umair and Muniba, also recorded their statements.

They refused to identify the accused. Jalil had submitted that he was not present on the scene, whereas the children stated that they could not identify the official who opened fire on their family.

The Lahore High Court had ordered for transfer of the case from Sahiwal to Lahore while allowing a petition, filed by Jalil. Khalil, his wife Nabila, their teenage daughter Areeba, and friend Zeeshan Javed were killed after the CTD officials opened fire on their car in Sahiwal on January 19, 2019. Jalil had lodged a case against six CTD officials at Yousafwal police station.

Punjab Judicial Academy gets new DG: Lahore High Court (LHC) Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Shamim Khan in exercise of his powers as chairman of the board of management of Punjab Judicial Academy (PJA) on Wednesday appointed District and Sessions Judge (D&SJ) Habibullah Amir as new director general of the academy.

According to an LHC notification, the appointment had been made for a period of four years, starting from Sept 11. Habibullah Amir has been working as judicial member, Appellate Tribunal, Punjab Revenue Authority, earlier.

The seat had become vacant due to the transfer of DG PJA/D&SJ Abdul Sattar, who had been appointed as the Lahore High Court registrar, last week.—APP Our correspondent adds: A two-member delegation from British High Commission called on the IG Punjab on Wednesday.

The delegation acknowledged the efforts of Punjab Police in war against terrorism and said that service delivery initiatives especially Police Khidmat Marakaz was according to the international standards.

They said that Punjab Police was the first police force of Pakistan to utilise the information technology especially the latest monitoring and surveillance system installed at Safe City Lahore IC3 project was on a par with modern countries, and information sharing and professional cooperation with Punjab police would be further increased in future. In the end, shields were exchanged between IG Punjab and British Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Liaison Officers.