A RECENT fact-finding report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called for an urgent high-level judicial inquiry into deaths during so-called operations conducted by the Punjab Police’s Crime Control Department, which has allegedly adopted a “deliberate policy of staged police encounters leading to extrajudicial killings”. According to the report, as many as 924 suspects were killed in at least 670 CCD-led encounters across Punjab over eight months in 2025 since the launch of the special branch of police created to curb organised crime and heinous offences. The CCD’s performance has been hailed by Punjab’s political leadership as a great achievement that has protected citizens’ life, property and honour.
However, HRCP has rightly described such killings — averaging more than two fatal encounters per day — as “institutionalised practice”. The Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022, requires the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate every death in police custody under the supervision of the National Commission for Human Rights. Inquiries by judicial magistrates are required under Section 174 and 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc) in the case of custodial deaths. There’s no evidence that these legal formalities were observed to even try to ‘justify’ such fake encounters. It appears that this police culture of impunity has been perpetrated and patronised by those at the helm of political and security affairs in Pakistan’s largest province.
HRCP has pointed to the lack of accountability mechanisms behind the CCD’s cold-blooded violence. A uniform template of allegations is followed: suspects open fire first, police fire back in self-defence, and, under highly improbable circumstances, the suspects are killed in their accomplices’ friendly fire; the dead suspects then turn out to be “hardened criminals”. These have been declared “lethal shortcuts” secured by bypassing proper investigation, prosecution and judicial oversight. HRCP wants an immediate “moratorium” on all encounter operations until legal safeguards and independent accountability mechanisms are established.
After a year’s pre-service training at Police College Sihala in 1977, I was sent to Punjab to serve as assistant superintendent of police at Sheikhupura, Pakpattan and Jhang sub-divisions. Punjab Police has a reputation for using strong-arm tactics against criminals. A tough police chief in Lahore was known as ‘Halaku Khan’. Since the 19th century, Punjab Police’s interrogation techniques have been part of folklore. ‘Effective’ police officers were projected as macho figures in Punjab’s vast hinterlands. There were two types of officers: those who believed that the ends justified the means and harsh and extrajudicial measures were effective crime-control methods; the other smaller group comprised those who believed in the rule of law, due process and adherence to a code that gave primacy to human rights and dignity over brutality.
Punjab’s current style of policing can be described as draconian.
My father’s profession as a lawyer and his being a disciple of Mohammad Ali Jinnah set my course; I chose the path less trodden, which followed the rule of law. As SSP, I was appointed Lahore police chief in 1991; a recent predecessor was said to be an ‘encounter specialist’. The younger brother of the then prime minister was heading a crime control committee for Lahore district. It took me a while to make him understand that crime can be controlled through the painstaking tasks of intelligence collection and professional (and not extra-legal) interrogation of suspects, thorough investigations, collection of credible (and not cooked-up) evidence, assiduous prosecutions and meticulous trials. Over the next two years, the Lahore police took a rule-of-law approach to control crime as the media of those years can testify.
The same politician became Punjab chief minister in 1997 and his elder brother the prime minister. On the recommendation of the then inspector-general of police (IGP) and chief secretary, he posted me as DIG of Faisalabad region. Terrorism and sectarian violence were at their peak in those days. The Crime Investigation Department was reorganised and an elite police force created to tackle sectarian violence. The Anti-Terrorism Act was promulgated in 1997, and special speedy trial courts were established. Within two years, hundreds of sectarian terrorists, mainly belonging to Sunni and Shia militant groups were arrested, prosecuted and incarcerated. Sectarian violence came down through lawful measures. Later, the CID was upgraded to the Counter-Terrorism Department and further successes were achieved. Both the political and security establishments achieved the desired results through an approach based on due process and the rule of law.
Punjab’s current style of policing can be described as draconian. In the last three years or so, extremely harsh measures have been used against peaceful political protests, and the privacy of homes has been violated. Above all, extrajudicial and custodial killings by the CCD have created an environment of distrust and disgust. The ill-advised promulgation of the Torture and Custodial Death Act in 2022 has not stopped the killer cops from fighting crime by simply eliminating criminals. Will the federal police carry out a scrutiny of the provincial force? I doubt it. They themselves appear to be partners in this crime. The strategy of creating a special crime control department should be re-examined by Punjab’s political leadership. Shortcuts to fighting crime and populist displays of swift justice will backfire. Violence begets violence.
Judicial scrutiny of custodial and extrajudicial killings under Sections 174 and 176 of CrPC is the only way to ensure viable and legal accountability. In our policing days, we were genuinely concerned when high courts took notice of illegal detentions, the misuse of force and deaths in custody. We would not let our juniors run amok. By following the unlawful directions of the ruling elite and deep state, the current police leadership has failed. They must now draw the line and ensure that the police follow the law and enhance their investigative skills and capacity. There are three key public office holders in a province: the IGP, the high court chief justice and the political chief executive. Will they follow the constitutional path or take the illegal course of reckless lawlessness that promotes a culture of impunity? We’ll know the answer for no one can escape scrutiny and eventual accountability that this holy month of fasting and introspection provides to all of us, especially the rulers.
The writer is a former inspector-general of police.
Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026
