PESHAWAR: The judicial commission inquiring into the 2014 Army Public School carnage completed recording statements of two military officers during last couple of days and will record that of a third officer today (Friday).

The commission has examined the then commander 102 Brigade, 11 Corps Brigadier Inayatullah and the then chairman of Board of Governors of Army Public Educational Institutions, Brigadier Muddasir Azam.

The commission, comprising Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan of Peshawar High Court, also recorded statement of a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) of Anti-Terrorism Squad, Shah Nawaz.

It took the commission around six days to record detailed statements of the two officers.

According to the focal person of the commission, Imranullah Khan, the statement of Maj Dr Asim Shehzad, who was delivering first aid lecture to the students of APS on that fateful day, would be also recorded.

The commission had earlier asked the ministry of defence that the schedule of attendance of five army officers should be conveyed to it within three days as its proceedings were time restricted.

Apart from the then Peshawar corps commander Lt Gen Hidayatur Rehman, the other four officers summoned by the commission include Brig Muddasir Azam; Brig Inayatullah; Maj Dr Asim Shehzad of Army Medical Corps; and secretary of the BOG Maj Imran.

The commission has already recorded statements of some high-ranking police officials including present Provincial Police Officer Salahuddin Mehsud, the then PPO Nasir Durrani, the then DIG of Counter-Terrorism Department, Mohammad Alam Shinwari, the then secretary of home and tribal affairs department Syed Akhter Ali Shah, the then capital city police officer Ijaz Khan and others.

The commission had first received a detailed written statement from the Ministry of Defense to a questionnaire sent by it and subsequently it recorded statement of a representative of the ministry. The commission was constituted on Oct 12 by Peshawar High Court on the order of Supreme Court of Pakistan and it started functioning on Oct 19.

The commission was initially assigned six-week time by the Supreme Court during which it completed recording statements of 93 of the parents of martyred and injured students besides officials of police. As several important statements were left, therefore, the apex court allowed more time for the probe.

Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan also visited Peshawar APS along with his team including commission’s registrar Inamullah Wazir, its secretary Ajmal Tahir and focal person Imranullah on Dec 28. During the visit, they were briefed about the incident by Brig Shakirullah and Brig Aamer along with teammates in detail.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2019