All six police personnel acquitted in Sahiwal killings case.

LAHORE -- An anti-terrorism court on Thursday acquitted all six personnel of the police's Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the charge of killing four persons, including a woman and her daughter, in an alleged encounter earlier this year.

Muhammad Khalil, his wife Nabeela and their four children were travelling in a car, with their neighbour Zeeshan behind the wheel, when the CTD personnel intercepted the vehicle and opened fire on them. Later, the CTD officials claimed they had intelligence-based information that Zeeshan had links with a terrorist outfit.

Three minor children of Khalil - Muhammad Umair, Jazba and Muneeba - survived the attack with minor injuries.

On Jan 19, Yousafwala police registered an FIR on the complaint of Muhammad Jalil, brother of deceased Khalil, under sections 302, 324, 337 (F1, F-A1 and F3), 201 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Initially the trial was conducted in Sahiwal. However, the Lahore High Court (LHC) on June 17 shifted the proceedings to Lahore, allowing an application filed by the complainant.

The suspects - namely, Safdar Hussain, Ahsan Khan, Muhammad Ramzan, Saifullah, Hasnain Akbar and Nasir Nawaz - were indicted by the trial court.

'The prosecution has failed to prove the case against the accused... while dispensing justice the court has to see the evidence available on record...,' trial judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta ruled in the verdict.

The prosecution presented around 27 private witnesses. However, all of them exonerated the suspects from the charge and a majority of them maintained they knew nothing about the occurrence; some of them said they reached the crime scene after the incident.

The judge noted that all the witnesses were declared hostile and they were subjected to lengthy cross-examination by the prosecution, but in vain.

'All the private witnesses in response to cross-examination conducted by the learned defence counsel maintained that they had no objection if the accused persons were acquitted,' the judge wrote in the verdict.

He said the complainant admitted that the FIR was not chalked out on his instruction or on his application; rather a fictitious application was attributed to him.

'Umair, the injured witness, was also examined after conducting an inquiry of his competency to depose in the case and he also did not involve any of the suspects (and) in his cross-examination maintained he has no objection if the suspects are acquitted. Two...