Orders Okara DPO to register FIR against the officials concerned, submit compliance report in 15 days
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the registration of a criminal case against officials of the Crime Control Department (CCD) over the alleged illegal detention of a citizen, ruling that video evidence contradicted the department’s account of the incident.
Justice Amjad Rafiq issued the written order while hearing a petition filed by Maqsooda Bibi, directing the Okara district police officer (DPO) to register a first information report (FIR) against the officials concerned and submit a compliance report within 15 days.
According to the written order, the petitioner submitted that Gulfam Ali was released from jail on June 27 but was immediately taken into custody outside the prison by individuals dressed in plain clothes.
Read: Fatal CCD shooting case deepens
During the proceedings, the court examined the CCTV footage of the incident submitted by the superintendent of the Lahore District Jail and other evidence available on record.
Lahore Defence CCD Inspector/Incharge Akhtar Ali told the judge that Gulfam had been arrested in connection with a criminal case registered in Okara on July 2, however, Justice Rafiq observed that the CCD’s version was contradicted by the video evidence before the court.
The judge held that submitting an incorrect report to the court and keeping a citizen in unlawful custody were cognisable offences warranting criminal proceedings.
The court subsequently directed the Okara DPO to register an FIR against the officials concerned and submit a report after complying with the order.
On June 18, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in a post on X, had cautioned the Punjab government about the rise of extrajudicial killings by CCD in Punjab.
The organisation noted that the CCD “routinely” adopted the use of lethal force as a tactic to control crime.
HRCP notes with alarm that extrajudicial killings have continued in Punjab despite the organisation having cautioned the Punjab government in an earlier report that the @CCD_Punjab appeared to be routinely adopting the use of lethal force as a tactic to ‘control’ crime. Since the…
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) June 18, 2026
“Since the CCD was formed in April 2025, HRCP has documented 808 police ‘encounters’ in which at least 1,100 suspects have been killed,” the post underscored, adding, “The fact that this normalisation of lethal force outside due process has directly resulted in the death of a nine-year-old child should be a call to conscience for the Punjab government.”
The HRCP lamented that while the CCD acknowledged the incident as a “violation” of departmental rules, it could not be treated as an isolated operational failure, nor could internal accountability be substituted for independent oversight.