ISLAMABAD: The federal government has asked the Punjab government to immediately register a first information report (FIR) regarding the tragic incident of firing on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) long march at Wazirabad on merit and on the basis of facts of incident and not on conjectures or speculative allegations.
According to the letter dated November 5 written by the Ministry of Interior, the FIR of the said case based on facts of the incident should be registered on merits and not on conjectures or speculative allegations immediately, without further loss of time as required under Section 154 of the CrPC,1898 by the concerned Station House officer (SHO) or Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) Punjab as complainant as the delay is grossly illegal and has caused irreparable damage to prosecute the real accused.
“The undersigned is directed to refer to the tragic incident of firing on the convoy of PTI at Wazirabad on November 3, 2022 and to convey the federal government’s grave concerns on the mishandling of the high-profile case which is evident from the fact that the FIR of the said case, ordinarily required to be registered within 24 hours of any incident, has not been registered even after the lapse of more than 36 hours,” it says.
The letter says that the failure to register the FIR despite the fact that the incident took place in the presence of provincial police personnel at the scene is indicative of the provincial government’s lacklustre response to the unfortunate incident.
It said that following the incident, the provincial government has exhibited complete unwillingness to provide any kind of explanation regarding the unfortunate incident including its failure to provide adequate security to the former prime minister and the clear lack of adherence to standard operating security procedures in relation to the convoy.
The federal government has also noted that the medico-legal examination of the former prime minister has not yet been carried out. It is also a matter of concern that the provincial government has failed to provide any updates regarding the weapon of offence and whether it has been forensically analysed.
Moreover, the crime scene was not secured for many hours after the incident which is again a violation of the prescribed procedures. Additionally, no official information regarding the victims or their nature of injuries has been released. Finally, the release of “confessional” videos of the alleged perpetrator points to serious lapses in the investigation process.
The afore-mentioned failures of the provincial government and its functionaries are clear evidence of their mishandling of the matter and amounts to criminal negligence, it says.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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