Sahiwal encounter: ‘Cops couldn’t see family on rear seat due to tinted windows,’ says CTD

SAHIWAL: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), currently under fire after Sahiwal encounter that killed four people including a woman and her husband, released another statement on Sunday saying the family caught in the fire were unaware that their driver was a ‘terrorist’, ARY News reported.

The CTD spokesperson said Zeeshan, who was among the deceased, was an associate of a banned terror organization who would provide shelter to terrorists. He said a group of terrorists had planned an attack at some places and Zeeshan was travelling to provide them explosives.

The alleged encounter took place on GT Road near Qadirabad, Sahiwal.

The CTD has identified one of the deceased as Zeeshan. The department says he was wanted in several cases of crime, including the kidnapping of Ali Haider Gilani, the son of former premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, and several American citizens. It also says he was the deputy chief of a banned outfit.

Two men and two women were killed in the incident. They were identified as Khalil, Nabila, Zeeshan and Areeba, who was 14 years old. Khalil and Nabila were the parents of the injured boy. The deceased hailed from Kot Lakhpat.

‘It was necessary to carry out an operation and it was done on the basis of intelligence reports,” the CTD statement explained.

The CTD said the suspect used Khalil’s family [an innocent man who was killed with her wife and a child], while the family were unaware about the criminal background of their driver.

The spokesperson said CTD personnel could not see the family sitting on rear seat of the vehicle because of tinted windows.

PM ‘shocked’ at Sahiwal incident, promises swift action after JIT report

He said the car was being monitored through different cams. He claimed that CTD’s Sahiwal team signaled the vehicle to stop, but ‘armed motorbike riders who were accompanying the car’ opened fire on the cops.

“In this case, retaliatory fire was inevitable. And it was unfortunate that Khalil also lost his life along with his wife and daughter”, the CTD statement says.

It said all rumours going rounds through different media platforms should not be seen as truth. The state of security in Punjab is no magic, it resulted through our efforts, the statement says.

The CTD said it protected Punjab from major terror incidents.

The spokesperson said everyone should wait until completion of investigation into the case.

It may be noted here that the CTD has changed its versions couple of times since the issue caught spotlight on all the TV channels.

In their first statement, the CTD had said they killed kidnappers who abducted two children. Later they claimed the people inside the car were killed in firing by their own associates during shootout.

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