On Thursday, Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday has ordered to release six accused Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel in Sahiwal killings case due to lack of evidence.

The accused included, Safdar Hussain, Ahsan Khan, Ramzan, Saifullah, Husnain and Nasir.  

In January 2019, the six accused men killed four persons including two women in Qadirabad area, who claimed to have killed four ‘terrorists’ in an intelligence based operation (IBO).

Minor boy Umair, who had severe wounds in the incident, and his two sisters Muneeba and Hadia were also present in the car.

CTD had told that the passengers of the car opened fire on officers, who were trying to intercept the vehicle and a motorcycle on GT Road.

According to CTD, Zeeshan and Khaleel were allegedly linked to a group involved in the abduction of former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son and an American citizen.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar immediately took notice of the mishap after which, Inspector General Amjad Javed Saleemi formed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Military Intelligence (MI) officers that declared law-enforcement agency members responsible for the incident.