The Punjab government on Monday challenged the acquittal of suspects in Sahiwal encounter case before the Lahore High Court. An anti-terrorism court had acquitted all the six officials of counter-terrorism who had allegedly gunned down four persons in Sahiwal earlier this year. The Punjab government contended in its appeal that either the investigation of the case went in the wrong direction or the witnesses resiled from their statements.

The government further said in its appeal that the trial court ignored the forensic evidences as well as the report of Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which held the accused responsible for committing murder of four people, the appeal added. The provincial government asked the court to reverse the special court's decision and take action against responsible for flawed investigation in the case and those who changed their statements.

In January, Mohammad Khalil, his wife and their three children were travelling in a car with their neighbour Zeeshan, when CTD personnel stopped the vehicle and opened fire on the passengers suspecting them to be terrorists. Khalil's two children Umair and Muneeba had survived the attack.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019