ISLAMABAD: The Balochistan police chief on Tuesday submitted a confidential report on the bombing of the Civil Hospital Quetta to the Supreme Court, even though senior lawyers accused the government of trying to conceal the facts of the case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Anwar Zaheer Jamali sought a detailed report from the Balochistan chief secretary over the Quetta carnage and also issued notices to the interior ministry and the attorney general for Pakistan.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, senior counsel Hamid Khan — representing three lawyers’ bodies from Balochistan — argued that no one had been arrested thus far and that instead of conducting a fair and transparent investigation, the government was trying to conceal the facts.

He alleged that both the provincial government and the federal government were responsible for the attack.

The CJP had asked the Balochistan inspector general of police (IGP) to inform the court about the investigation and what action police had taken so far.

At this point, Balochistan IGP Ahsan Mehboob submitted the investigation report to the court in a sealed envelope and informed the bench that the report was confidential.

Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed remarked that this was an incident where civilians had died, so why did the police want to keep this report confidential. To this, the IGP replied that since this was an act of terrorism, police were treating the matter with the utmost care.

Justice Saeed observed that the apex court had been waiting for the investigation report on the incident, and asked the IGP who was responsible for the security of hospital.

In response, the IGP said that the hospital administration was responsible for security within its premises, adding that police force had also been deployed for additional support.

The court also ordered the Balochistan health secretary to ensure that trauma centres in all hospitals are active, besides ensuring complete security and adjourned further hearing until October 14, saying that it would be held in Quetta.

The CJP took the suo motu action in the matter on a note from Supreme Court Registrar Arbab Mohammad Arif. The registrar’s note contained details of the Quetta bombing, which left 73 people dead and 104 people seriously wounded.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2016