Chakwal CCD shooting: Father claims robbers did not fire, police forced blank signature

CHAKWAL: The father of nine-year-old Hania Ahmed, who was killed in Chakwal on June 10, has alleged that the version recorded by police after the incident was false and that the fatal shooting came from a Crime Control Department (CCD) official rather than from robbers.

In an application submitted on Tuesday to District Police Officer Kashif Zulfiqar, Hania’s father Adeel Ahmed said Sub-Inspector Ahsan Abdullah of City Police Station wrongly stated in the first information report that robbers had opened fire. Hania, an Australian citizen visiting Pakistan, was killed at the scene during the robbery incident. Adeel and his 11-year-old son Affan were seriously injured, while Hania’s mother, Dr Sidra Khan, was not physically hurt. The case drew international attention.

Punjab police and the CCD have already described the incident as one of criminal negligence while acknowledging the department’s mistake.

Allegations in the application

According to the application, Adeel said that when he was taken to District Headquarters Hospital in critical condition, Constable Ateeque was present at the police service counter and behaved improperly with him. He said City Police Station personnel later arrived at the hospital, listened to what had happened, and then he was allegedly pressured by Constable Ateeque and Sub-Inspector Abdullah to sign and place his thumb impression on a blank sheet before he would be allowed to see a doctor.

Adeel stated that he and his son were injured, his daughter had died and his wife was in severe shock at the time. He said that after he signed the blank paper, he and his son were medically examined and, due to their condition, both were referred to Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hospital in Rawalpindi.

He further said that the next day, when he returned to Dhudial for his daughter’s funeral, he met CCD Sub-Inspector Muhammad Irfan after the investigation had been shifted from City Police Station to the CCD. It was then, he said, that he learned the shooting had occurred because of direct fire by a CCD constable.

Adeel also alleged that the statement used for registration of the FIR had been changed by Sub-Inspector Abdullah. He said Section 322 of the Pakistan Penal Code, relating to unintentional murder, was inserted instead of Section 302, even though, according to him, the contents pointed to intentional murder.

The FIR had stated that unidentified men first snatched jewellery from Adeel’s wife and later took cover behind a vehicle before opening fire.

“This was fabricated by the Sub-Inspector Ahsan Abdullah solely to benefit the accused in the case,” Adeel alleged.

He said he later gave the full details of the incident to CCD Sub-Inspector Muhammad Irfan, who recorded his statement in his presence. In the application, Adeel asked for legal action against Abdullah and Constable Ateeque so that their alleged malicious intent would not affect the case.

Police response and inquiry order

Following the application, DPO Zulfiqar directed the Headquarters DSP to conduct a fact-finding inquiry. He also instructed the officer to contact the complainant by phone if Adeel had already returned to Australia and ordered that the inquiry be completed within three days.

A senior officer at City Police Station rejected Adeel’s allegations, calling them baseless. The officer said the FIR had been registered under standard operating procedures and in the presence of the affected family members. He also denied the allegation of misconduct by the constable and said that “The constable who has been accused of misbehaviour did not misbehave. In a situation where a family’s innocent child has been killed, the father and brother are seriously injured, and the mother is in severe shock, no one could even imagine misbehaving with such a family.”

Previous official position and wider concerns

On June 18, CCD Additional Inspector General Sohail Zafar Chattha had said the policeman nominated in the murder case would receive no leniency from the department and that the charge-sheet would be completed within a week.

The CCD, which was set up last year, has faced criticism from human rights campaigners and civil society groups over alleged extrajudicial encounters and a high number of deaths. In February, a fact-finding report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan alleged that the department had adopted a deliberate policy of staged police encounters resulting in extrajudicial killings.