Police vow accountability over child fatality

Constitution of joint investigation team in Chakwal shooting case announced

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LAHORE:

Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Dr Usman Abdul Karim and Crime Control Department (CCD) chief Sohail Zafar Chattha have pledged a transparent investigation and accountability in the Chakwal shooting case that had claimed the life of nine-year-old Pakistani-Australian girl, Hania Ahmed, saying no official would be shielded if found responsible.

The IG announced the constitution of a high-powered joint investigation team (JIT) to thoroughly probe the incident on merit.

Addressing a press conference, the provincial police chief expressed condolences to the bereaved family and described the death of the child as an irreparable loss.

"The loss of an innocent child cannot be justified under any circumstances," he said, adding that operational pressure, misunderstandings or policing challenges could not be used to excuse such an incident. He said Punjab Police considered the matter extremely serious and had initiated legal proceedings immediately after the shooting.

The IG said a suspect, a cop, had been taken into custody and a JIT had been constituted to ensure a transparent and professional inquiry. He maintained that public trust in policing depended on accountability and warned that negligence or misuse of authority would not be tolerated.

"This case is not merely a file. It concerns the life of a child and the grief of a family. Justice will be ensured," he said.

CCD chief Sohail Zafar Chattha said the first information report (FIR) had been registered promptly on the statement of the victim's father without alteration. He said the absence of a nominated suspect in the FIR would not affect the investigation, which would proceed on the basis of evidence and facts.

Explaining the sequence of events, Chatha said CCD personnel had responded to reports of a robbery in a narrow street where armed suspects were allegedly looting a family. During an exchange of fire, the suspects took cover behind a vehicle. A police officer, believing gunfire was coming from the vehicle, opened fire without positively identifying the target.

The firing resulted in the death of Hania Ahmed and injuries to her father and brother. Chattha termed the incident a "mistake in judgment" and improper use of force.

He said standard operating procedures (SOPs) required positive identification of a target before opening fire and the failure to do so formed a key part of the ongoing investigation. Police training and operational procedures were also being reviewed to prevent similar incidents in future, he added.

Officials confirmed that two robbery suspects were killed in a separate encounter and said investigations were continuing to establish their involvement in the crime.

The briefing follows an earlier press conference by CCD regional officers Abdul Hannan, Shah Meer Khalid and Jahandad Akram who had acknowledged that the shooting of the minor girl was a mistake and admitted that established SOPs had not been followed. They stated that the officer involved had failed to properly identify the target before firing and follow the requirement to engage a fleeing vehicle by targeting its tyres rather than occupants.

During that media interaction, officials had drawn parallels with a 2019 Sahiwal incident in which members of a counterterrorism unit had killed members of a family after mistakenly identifying them as militants, and pledged that the Chakwal case would not meet a similar fate.