LAHORE: The Punjab police on Wednesday requested the Home Department to set up a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the October 7 attack on an Ahmedi worship place in Mandi Bahauddin. The team, which would include officers from the Punjab Police, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), would be tasked with hunting down the four gunmen that opened fire on a congregation of Ahmedis in the Moong village, near Mandi Bahauddin, killing eight and injuring 19 people, including children and elderly people.In a letter to all district police officers (DPOs), Inspector General of Police Ziaul Hassan admitted that the attack indicated that some aspects of the police’s security arrangements were still weak. In the letter, the IG had drawn the DPOs’ attention to a circular issued on September 23, detailing security measures for worship places in particular. The IG directed all Deputy Inspector Generals and DPOs to ensure foolproof security arrangements to prevent such incidents in the future.
In the wake of the killings, the Punjab government had put all law-enforcement agencies on high alert. Home Department officials said that the Punjab government was committed to providing security and protection to all its citizens. Police arrested 20 activists from different sectarian groups after the attack and according to a news item, two special investigation teams, one each from the from Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) and the Islamabad IB, reached Mandi Bahauddin to investigate the attack. Gujranwala DPO Zafar Abbas Luk said that he suspected the involvement of foreign elements in the Mong killing. According to the instructions, places of worship, including mosques, imambargahs and churches etc would be categorised into two categories, depending on the sensitivity of the worship place.