Australian PM calls for 'transparent inquiry' into killing of girl by CCD in Punjab’s Chakwal

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday called for a transparent inquiry into the shooting of Hania Ahmad by the Punjab Crime Control Department (CCD) earlier this week, according to The Guardian.

Adeel Ahmed, 39, his wife Dr Sidra Khan, their daughter Hania Ahmed, 9, and son Aafan Ahmed, 10, were shot at during a robbery when CCD personnel opened fire on their vehicle, mistaking it for that of robbers. As a result, Hania died on the spot, while Adeel and Aafan were critically injured. Dr Khan remained unhurt.

Australian media have reported on the case, as the family were Australian nationals based in Perth. The incident was covered by ABC, The Guardian, and SBS, which highlighted that the family was on holiday in Pakistan at the time of the incident.

In its report, The Guardian quoted Albanese as saying that the incident needed to be properly examined by authorities.

“These circumstances do need to be examined. They need to be examined in a transparent way, so that everyone can know, the family, most importantly, but others as well,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“Australia expects there to be transparency and a proper investigation of these circumstances.”

According to the paper, Albanese expressed his condolences to the victims’ family and friends, adding that the Pakistani Australian community “will be really feeling this today”.

“A nine-year-old girl visiting Pakistan with her family should have been a time of joy,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was providing consular assistance to the family, while Western Australia Attorney General Tony Buti on Sunday described the incident as a tragic case of “mistaken identity”.

“Our thoughts and concerns are with the family and the Pakistani community that live in Western Australia,” he was quoted as saying.

Additionally, the Pakistani Association of Western Australia said the Ahmad family had requested privacy for now, the newspaper reported.

“We are in contact with family as they are passing through this hard time,” the community group said.

Two suspects involved in Wednesday night robberies and a fatal shoot-out were killed in an encounter with CCD Chakwal, while an official of the department was arrested on charges of murdering a minor girl and injuring her brother and father, sources told Dawn on Saturday.

“Both the robbers were involved in a spree of robbery incidents occurred within three hours on Wednesday night. They were the same who got into a shootout with the personnel of CCD while looting an Australian national family,” a senior CCD official claimed while talking to Dawn.

In the first information report (FIR), the CCD official was not booked, but now the FIR has been amended with the addition of section 302, which led to his arrest.