Punjab police, CCD admit 'mistake' in Chakwal girl shooting, assure incident will not be covered up or defended

Admitting the Crime Control Department’s (CCD) mistake in the shooting of a young girl in Chakwal earlier this month, the Punjab police and the CCD said on Thursday that the incident would neither be defended nor covered up under “any circumstances”.

They also described the shooting as a case of “criminal negligence”, saying that the CCD official’s lack of training had contributed to his inability to assess the situation correctly.

A nine-year-old girl, Hania, was killed and her father and brother were injured last week after officials of the CCD opened fire on their car in the Chakwal city area, mistaking it for that of robbers.

Addressing a press conference on the incident on Thursday, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Abdul Karim described the incident as “deeply tragic”.

He said it would be thoroughly investigated and that the negligence behind the CCD’s actions would be placed on record to ensure those responsible were brought before a court of law.

Karim added that no institution could earn public trust without acknowledging its mistakes and assured that the investigation would proceed independently.

Meanwhile, Punjab CCD Additional Inspector General (AIG) Sohail Zafar Chattha said that the family’s trust was of utmost importance to the police.

He said public confidence in the CCD was also important because society had high expectations of the department and often believed it did not make mistakes. The official added that the tragic incident had caused embarrassment to both the CCD and the Punjab police.

“Now, it is the right time to learn from this criminal negligence and rectify the blunders of the individuals in CCD to prevent such incidents in the future,” Chattha said.

Both the IGP and the AIG noted that, due to a lack of training, the CCD official involved had failed to assess the situation correctly and had made a “huge blunder”, emphasising that training and capacity-building within the department needed to be improved.

They said a plan had been outlined to address shortcomings and gaps in training to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“We will not defend this criminal negligence in any circumstances,” he said, adding that the CCD stood with the family of the victim.

He made it clear that the cop nominated under murder charges would not get sympathy from the police.

In response to a question, Chattha added that the challan of the arrested personnel would be completed within a week and presented before the court for further legal proceedings.

The press conference was held after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday demanded a “transparent” investigation into the killing of Hania.

Following public outcry, the Australian premier flagged the importance of a detailed inquiry into the incident, saying, “These circumstances do need to be examined.”

He added that the facts must be examined in a transparent way, so that everyone could know “the family is more important than anything”.

“My heart goes out to the family and friends of the slain girl,” the Albanese said, adding that he would express solidarity with the Pakistani-Australian community.