Lahor'da polis ölümleri: Soruşturma resmi ihmali doğruladı

Probe links official negligence to recent killing of policemen in Lahore

LAHORE: A high-level investigation into the killing of two suspects in the alleged encounter in Muridke on Friday ‘blatantly exposed the loopholes in criminal justice system’ involving the suspicious conduct of some officials from police, jail and judiciary, which reportedly led to the loss of lives of police personnel in the individual targeted attacks. Following the disturbing reports that emerged in the wake of the Muridke encounter, the Lahore police authorities constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) to be investigated by the SPs of security and headquarters of Lahore, giving them a mandate to expand the scope of the investigations to hold those involved accountable ‘no matter who they are’. The two officers were asked to submit a report. The suspects, identified as Fayyaz Butt and his son Rehan Butt, were killed in a joint operation by Lahore police, Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Sheikhpura police and Elite Force on Friday. They were allegedly involved in the attacks on the police personnel in Badami Bagh and Yateem Khana areas, leaving three police officials dead and two critically injured on Thursday. High-level investigation highlights misconduct of police, jail, judicial officers A senior official told Dawn that the post-operation investigations stunned the police high-ups when they found out the four suspects, including Fayyaz and Rehan, were arrested and released many times in the past despite being high-value ‘wanted individuals’. In May 2026, months before the attacks on the police officials, he said, Rehan and his accomplice, Tariq Khan, were arrested by Mohafiz Squad on the Ravi Road red-handed while transporting ‘lethal weapons’. A 9MM pistol was also among the other weapons they had purchased from a tribal area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The official revealed that Rehan and Tariq were later handed over to the Ravi Road police. After a brief interrogation, he said, the then Ravi Road SHO had released Rehan after allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs70,000 and lodged an FIR against Tariq. This act of the then SHO prompted the two SPs to mark him as a prime negligent official besides some other police personnel. Talking about another such incident, the official said, Faizan, the brother of Rehan Butt, had been offering his services as ‘an informer’ of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs). He was arrested and booked in a case of keeping explosive material under the Anti-Terrorism Act and sent to jail in 2024. During his jail time, he met a militant, Abdul Rauf Gujjar, a member of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, associated with the Malik Ishaq group, and held a series of meetings with him in connivance with some prison officials. Gujjar brainwashed Faizan and instigated him for attacks on police personnel, offering his services for his bail through a ‘judicial officer’. Accordingly, he was released from jail and the jailed militant facilitated his travel to Afghanistan where he got training and returned to Lahore with some given targets. The official alleged that Faizan killed three police personnel in 2024 before he was killed in an encounter with the CTD in the Defence area the same year. Following his killing, his brother, Rehan, came to the limelight when the police were informed about his suspicious activities. The police took him in custody and reportedly handed him over to the CTD for further action, suspecting that he may pose risks to police personnel in revenge of his brother’s killing in the encounter. The official said that the police were expecting that the CTD authorities would put him on the Fourth Schedule to be constantly monitored after his designation as a proscribed (banned) person under Section 11EE of the ATA as was required. However, Rehan returned home and hurled serious life threats on Sub-Inspector Adeel Ashiq who was also a part of the CTD team and Rehan believed that he had killed his brother in the encounter. Subsequently, Shafiqabad police nominated him in the case lodged on the complaint of SI Ashiq in November 2024. The official also highlighted the negligence on the part of the Lahore investigation police which had almost shelved the case registered against Rehan and failed to arrest him despite the registration of the FIR. Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026