Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar (right) visiting the surviving children in hospital — BBC ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (BBC): Hours after he lost his parents and a sibling in a bloody shooting on Saturday, a nine-year-old Pakistani boy exposed a blatant cover-up by police.
Highly-trained counter terror forces had claimed to have killed four "terrorists" linked to the Islamic State group in an "intelligence-based operation" south-west of Lahore, after they opened fire at officers.
Three other "terrorists", the police said, had escaped from the scene, on the outskirts of Sahiwal city, on a motorbike.
But then Umair Khalil began talking to reporters in hospital - and the story he told was very different.
He said his family had been travelling from Lahore to a family member's wedding in a car driven by his father's friend when they were stopped by police at a toll booth.
"My father told them to take our money and not to shoot their guns. But they started firing," Umair said in the video.
His parents - who ran a grocery shop - were killed, alongside his 12-year-old sister, and the family friend who was driving.
Umair and two younger sisters who also survived were later found abandoned at a petrol station some distance away.
Outrage quickly began to spread. Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted that he was shocked "at seeing the traumatized children who saw their parents shot before their eyes".
By the end of Saturday, several officers had been arrested and the incident was placed under investigation. On Tuesday, the Punjab state law minister said as a result of the investigation, several senior counter-terrorism department officers were being removed from their positions, and the five officers involved in the shooting would be sent to court.
Pakistan's police - like many other public institutions - has become increasingly politicised over the years.
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