Sahiwal encounter: Witness says he was pressured by DPO to falsely testify

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday summoned Sahiwal District Police Officer (DPO) for allegedly pressurising a key witness in the infamous 2019 Sahiwal encounter to resile from his statement which resulted in the acquittal of all six Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel.

The two-member bench of LHC headed by Justice Chaudhry Abdul Aziz conducted a hearing on the Punjab government’s appeal against the acquittal of the suspects.

In January 2019, Mohammad Khalil, his wife, and their three children were traveling in a car with their neighbour Zeeshan who was driving. On the way, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel stopped the vehicle and opened fire on the passengers. CTD personnel initially maintained that they had killed all suspects having links with a terrorist outfit in the counter.

However, Khalil’s two minor children including Umair and Muneeba had luckily survived and later narrated what had actually happened. In October 2019, a special anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore had acquitted all suspects in the Sahiwal encounter case on ‘benefit of doubt’.

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On the government’s appeal against acquittal, the court also issued notices to all six acquitted CTD personnel for the next hearing.

The bench questioned the witness Wasim why he declined to identify the suspects before the trial court and gave false testimony.

The witness informed the court that the victim of the encounter was his brother and claimed that Sahiwal DPO Ali Zia forced him to give a false statement.

Hearing this, the court issued summon orders for Sahiwal DPO for the next hearing.

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The court expressed displeasure that the witness first raised a ruckus about the incident and later refused to recognise the suspects and slung mud on the court.

The prosecutor said that the CTD personnel were acquitted as the witnesses deviated from their statements.

The court remarked that the people used to cry after hearing the stories from the witness on the television however the truth has surfaced now. The bench lamented that all witnesses had maintained that they knew nothing.

The proceeding has been adjourned until January 17, 2022.

The trial court had recorded testimonies of 49 witnesses, including close relatives of victims. Khalil’s two children had not identified the suspects while their identities couldn’t also be ascertained through photogrammetric tests.