Probe lacks authenticity

ISLAMABAD Interior Ministry and Islamabad Capital Territory Administration (ICTA) were not on the same page regarding the probe into the killing of a suspected suicide bomber that was concluded in a haste on Thursday.
Well-placed sources informed TheNation that Interior Ministry wanted a swift conclusion of the inquiry, perhaps in a bid to hush up the matter at earliest, whereas the high-ups of ICTA wanted the probe to be thorough.
However, the sources added that the ICTA succumbed to the pressure of the ministry and the matter was hushed up within two days without going into details emanating from the findings of the inquiry report. The sources underlined the fact that none of the high-ups of the ICT police was investigated, ostensibly to put the issue under the carpet as early as possible.
The sources further informed that the ministry was out to save the skin of the high-ups of Capital Police, who were allegedly involved in the killing of a suspected suicide bomber on November 8.
The sources further disclosed that the high-ups of ICTA wanted to advertise the snaps of the suspected suicide bomber in the newspapers as well on TV channels so that his heirs could be traced out but the ministry simply turned the idea down.
Earlier, Rana Akbar Hayat, Additional Deputy Commissioner General (ADCG) as inquiry officer presented preliminary report to Chief Commissioner Fazeel Asghar on late Wednesday night.
The city administration appeared to be in such a hurry that it completed the inquiry within 12 hours after appointment of the inquiry team by the Interior Ministry and findings of the preliminary inquiry were presented to Chief Commissioner Fazeel Asghar.
According to the preliminary report of the inquiry, the police genuinely hit the suicide bomber on the spot and it was a genuine suicide jacket, which was later defused by bomb disposal squad.
However, Fazeel Asghar while talking to TheNation on Thursday morning said that he had sent back inquiry report to the inquiry officer pointing out some loopholes in it. He said that he had directed the inquiry officer to submit a detailed report of the inquiry.
He further said that he would receive details of the inquiry report probably in the evening. When Chief Commissioner was contacted in the late evening, he narrated the findings of the detailed inquiry, which were same as that of the preliminary inquiry.
It is worth mentioning that after the preliminary inquiry, the findings of the detailed inquiry were presented to the Chief Commissioner within the next 24 hours, which is a big question mark on the authenticity of the inquiry.
The inquiry officer had completed the inquiry without even recording statements of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Islamabad, as well as other senior officers of the police despite the fact that the involvement of high-ups of Islamabad Police in the killing of suspect suicide bomber was reported in the media.
Rather than following the facts, the Inquiry Officer based the report on mere statements of the low-ranking police officials who were present at the picket at the time of the incident, report of bomb disposal squad, post-mortem report and wireless record of the police control room.
Rana Akbar Hayat, Additional Deputy Commissioner General (ADCG), a grade-18 officer originally belongs to the provincial service and was on deputation in ICTA. Evidently, a junior officer was deputed as inquiry officer to probe into the case in which senior police officers were allegedly involved, the sources maintained.