ISLAMABAD, Aug 26: Taking notice of the lynching of two brothers in Sialkot, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Human Rights has summoned the police officials concerned to appear before it on Sept 1.

Talking to Dawn on Thursday, committee's chairman Riaz Fatiana said he had called the district coordination officer and district police officer of Sialkot to record their statements about the incident that took place in the presence of policemen on Aug 15.

When asked why had he taken notice of the incident so late when an investigation commission formed by the Supreme Court had already completed its inquiry, Mr Fatiana admitted that he had convened the meeting a little late, but said he had done it only to keep the issue alive. He was of the view that the people of Pakistan had a short memory and were in the habit of forgetting even bigger tragedies.

On Aug 15, dozens of people beat to death two young brothers, Hafiz Mughees, 15, and Hafiz Muneeb, 19, in the presence of Sialkot District Police Officer Waqar Chauhan and eight other police officers who watched the brutal act as silent spectators.

On Aug 21, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry ordered Anti-Corruption Director General Justice (retd) Kazim Malik to investigate the matter and submit a report to the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, Justice (retd) Kazim Malik said at a news conference that he had completed the inquiry and would submit his report to the Supreme Court. He claimed to have collected enough evidence to ascertain the truth. He did not spell out any of the findings, saying he was not authorised to do so.