Inquiry points finger at Sanaullah, Police

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Model Town tragedy
Police tried to cover up who gave orders to shoot: inquiry report
news agencies
LAHORE
Government of Punjab has made inquiry report of Model Town incident public on Tuesday after Lahore High Court (LHC) upheld its verdict over review petition filed by chief minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government.
According to the report, law minister Rana Sanaullah ordered Punjab Police to remove the barriers placed on roads leading to and residence of Dr Tahirul Qadri, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief that resulted in deadly clash between the law enforcers and workers of the political front claiming 14 lives and leaving numerous injured.
The report reads: “The then law minister, Rana Sanaaullah, had a strong point of view who decided not to allow Dr Qadri to take any opportunity to fulfill his objective.”
Earlier in a press conference, law minister Rana Sanaullah said that CM Shehbaz had ordered for the report to be made public immediately after the high court delivered its verdict.
Commission report inconclusive, incomplete; Rana Sana
Punjab Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah after announcement of Model Town tragedy report’s publicizing termed it inconclusive and incomplete said report doesn’t hold Shehbaz Sharif responsible for that bloodbath.
Rana Sanaullah announced, “There are legal flaws in the report. It cannot be presented as evidence. No police official was declared responsible in the report.” Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said that the Punjab government has decided not to challenge the report any further. “The (Model Town incident) report only says probably the order of Shehbaz Sharif wasn’t forwarded,” the Punjab Law Minister mentioned during press briefing.
Rana Sanaullah claimed that not a single government official has been blamed in the report, stressing that it doesn’t hold any single individual responsible for the Model Town massacre.
While commenting on Lahore High Court (LHC) order to make the report public within thirty days, he responded that the Punjab government believes in the superiority of law and merit.
LHC three-member bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh has rejected Punjab government’s petition and upheld the decision to make the Model Town judicial inquiry report public.
The court dismissed three appeals filed by the Punjab government against the release and ordered to public the report of Justice Baqir Najafi Commission within 30 days.
In September, LHC full bench had retained the single bench order to make Model Town report public, rejecting the petition filed by Punjab government to annul single bench order.
PTI demands immediate resignation of CM Punjab
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mehmood-ur-Rasheed on Tuesday demanded immediate resignation of Chief Minister Punjab Main Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif as Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected Punjab government’s petition and upheld the decision to make the Model Town judicial inquiry report public.
The PTI leader said that judicial decision as victory of truth. Earlier, three-member bench headed by Justice Abid Aziz Sheikh dismissed three appeals filed by the Punjab government against the release and ordered to public the report of Justice Baqir Najafi Commission within 30 days. It also directed to provide the copies of the report to the heirs of Model Town tragedy victims within three days.Punjab government adopted the stance that the report can be used against the accused during trial and requested the court to suspend the decision of disclosing the report.
‘Punjab govt put all-out efforts to trash Model Town probe report’: Tahirul Qadri
Throwing light on the party’s over three-year-long endeavours to seek justice, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri said on Tuesday that the Punjab government put all-out efforts to trash the Model Town incident report.
Addressing a press conference, Qadri said that the PAT leadership did not let the case die out as the provincial government made all efforts to divert the attention of authorities concerned from the commission report.
“We did not form the commission, it was solely constituted by the Punjab government after terming it a serious public concern and appointing Justice Baqar Najafi as head of the commission,” Qadri said.
Despite all these facts, the provincial government was still averse to release the Justice Baqar Najafi inquiry report into killings of 14 PAT activists, he underscored.