LAHORE – Sahiwal incident in which 2 men and 2 women were killed by the Punjab Police Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on 19th January 2019, has sent shock-waves across the country but has so far remained shrouded in mystery. The details behind this incident and the events that led up to it were revealed for the first time yesterday in an in-camera briefing by officials to journalists.
According to the officials, the whole story is linked to wanted terrorists Abdur Rehman, Aamir, Adeel Hafeez, Usman Haroon, and Adeel Hafeez. Various law enforcement agencies had been tailing these ISIS-affiliated terror suspects for some time. These terrorists were wanted in abductions and killings of foreigners including American citizen Warren Weinstein. These wanted terrorists were also involved in the gruesome murder of ISI inspector Umer and the murder of the nephew of ex-CJP Tasadduq Husain Jilani.
In September, law enforcement agencies got intel that ISIS was planning something big in Punjab and that two terrorists were in Sahiwal with weapons and suicide jackets. Around 13 January, intel agencies started following one of the suspects, Adeel Hafeez who was seen in the same area on a Honda City known to intel agencies. Adeel Hafeez along with another suspect Usman Haroon reached Faisalabad in the same Honda City on 13th January 2019. The Alto that was ultimately involved in the Sahiwal incident was seen escorting the Honda City carrying terrorists on this occasion.
On 14th January, an Intel-based operation was conducted on their hideout in which both suspects were killed. Six suicide jackets and a number of grenades were recovered from the hideout. The Honda City that transported these terrorists to Faisalabad was then traced back via safe city cameras to 15th November 2018 and was seen to be frequently travelling to the Faisalabad hideout as well as another terrorist hideout in Chongi Amar Sandhu in Lahore.
According to law enforcement agencies, the same Alto that was ultimately involved in the Sahiwal incident was also seen at the Chongi Amar Sandhu hideout via safe city cameras, and Zeeshan, one of the men killed in Sahiwal incident was seen along with Adeel Hafeez.
On 18th January, a day before the incident, an Intel-based operation was conducted in Misri Shah Lahore where terrorists of the same gang were killed and 14 C4 explosive slabs, 1 suicide jacket, 8 grenades, and 10kg explosives were recovered.
From both Faisalabad and Misri Shah incidents, Zeeshan’s name came up repeatedly. His phone number and messages were also recovered from those killed in Faisalabad operation of 14th January. After Misri shah operation, fearing that Zeeshan has panicked due to the string of counter-terror operations and is on the move, intel agencies alerted Punjab Police CTD who, through safe city cameras, spotted Zeeshan near Manga Mandi going South on national highway on the day of the incident. In safe-city camera footage, only 2 men were visible on the front seat.
At that time, the following people were actually present in the car: Khalil and his wife Nabeela, their daughters Areeba, Muniba, Hadia and their son Umair, in addition to terror, suspect Zeeshan. This, according to the officials, was not known to the CTD and was not clear through safe city camera footages.
CTD was told to approach the Alto car with caution as it might contain explosives and may blow up in case the suspects panic. Officials admit that after this point the operation was poorly handled by CTD, they approached the car, intercepted it, and fearing a counterattack launched indiscriminate firing on it – killing three innocent people: Khalil, his wife and their teenage daughter – and scarring the young children present forever.
However, officials maintain that Zeeshan, the person driving the Alto vehicle, and the probable owner of the vehicle was a terrorist. In the in-camera briefing officials also showed Zeeshan’s selfies with known terrorists retrieved from terrorist Adeel Hafeez’s phone. Another terrorist Rizwan, who was seen on a video killing ISI’s Inspector Umer, was also seen with Zeeshan – sealing his terrorist credentials.
According to officials, CTD team behaved extremely irresponsibly and caused the tragic death of innocent bystanders whose presence was not anticipated in the car known to be used by terrorists. This oversight is being investigated and those responsible for this extreme negligence to be punished accordingly.
