Lahore, Pakistan’s Punjab police have killed 10 “suspects” in alleged encounters, raising the number of fatalities to over 1,100 over the past year, even as human rights group and former PM Imran Khan’s party raised concerns over such incidents in the province.
The 10 suspects were killed in various encounters across the province on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Crime Control Department said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The suspects were proclaimed offenders involved in dozens of cases of murder, bus dacoities, robbery, attempt to murder, extortion, police encounters, and shooting and injuring citizens for resisting during robberies under different police stations of Punjab,” it added.
Punjab’s first woman Chief Minister, Maryam Nawaz, last year had formed the CCD, tasking it to bring down the crime rate in the province of 130 million people.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf of jailed former premier Imran Khan has strongly condemned the “extra-judicial” killings of the people and demanded a judicial probe into the matter.
“The day the #MadamThiefMinister government falls, the space for the CCD and paramilitary forces will shrink,” PTI senior leader and former member of Imran Khan’s cabinet Moonis Elahi said in a post on X.
Saud Kamal, a PTI activist, said: “Maryam Nawaz is using the CCD to pursue political vendettas. God willing, a system built on oppression cannot last for long.”
PTI alleged that Maryam’s CCD could kill anyone anytime in the province with total impunity, establishing a law of the jungle in Pakistan.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has also called for an immediate judicial inquiry into the killing of over 1,100 people by the special police force.
According to the HRCP, over 1,100 suspects have been killed by the CCD through “staged encounters” during the last year with impunity.
“The CCD has adopted a deliberate policy of staged police encounters leading to extrajudicial killing,” it said.
In 2025, the CCD conducted 670 encounters in Punjab that resulted in the deaths of 924 suspects, while only two police officials were killed during the same timeframe in these encounters, it added.
The HRCP said the sharp disparity in casualties – averaging more than two fatal encounters per day – alongside similar operational patterns reported across districts of Punjab seems to be an “institutionalised practice” rather than isolated incidents of misconduct.
It said the special police force has created a “climate of fear among affected families”. The relatives of some suspects killed in staged encounters are pressured by police to bury the deceased immediately and warned of further harm if they pursue legal action.
The HRCP termed such actions as “criminal intimidation and a direct obstruction of justice.”
It said the CCD’s operations appear inconsistent with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which require that lethal force be used only when necessary and proportionate, and that accountability mechanisms be enforced in cases of misuse.
Maryam Nawaz will face legal action on these encounters once she is no longer in power, a rights activist said.
Maryam Nawaz is daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The CCD has rebuffed the claims of “fake encounters and extrajudicial killings”, saying that officers use measured force against armed criminals who shoot at police.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
