Lahore shooting: Probe calls US official’s bluff
By IANSTuesday, February 15, 2011
ISLAMABAD - Investigators have found that US official Raymond Davis “told lies” when he claimed to have fired in self defence at two men, both of whom were shot in the back, a media report said Tuesday.
The challan submitted against Davis said that “during investigations it has come to light that the stance of the accused that he fired in self-defence is not correct”, Daily Times reported Tuesday.
Davis shot dead two Pakistani men, Faizan and Faheem, on motorcycles on a Lahore street Jan 27 after they allegedly brandished weapons. Some reports say the two were Pakistani intelligence operatives tailing him. He claimed he fired in self-defence.
The incident led to a third death when a speeding US consulate vehicle coming to the rescue of Davis overran a motorcyclist.
The postmortem report said: “(1) Faizan and Faheem received three injuries each from the back side. (2) witnesses say that the accused fired at Faizan Haider at a time when he left the motorcycle and ran to save his life (3) the accused himself admitted that he fired at Faizan from the back when he was running.
“(4) two empties recovered from the crime scene prove that the accused fired at the deceased after coming out of the car (5) the accused claims that one of the deceased cocked his pistol and pointed at him while the investigations reveal the chamber of the deceased’s pistol were empty and the bullets were in the magazine. And no one saw them aiming at the accused. (6) if the accused had to fire in self-defence he could fire at the lower part or legs of the deceased as he was an expert at using arms.”
The report also found that Davis was not telling the truth when he said he was coming from the US consulate.
“…the GPS record says that he was coming from his private residence at Scotch Corner, Upper Mall. The accused has concealed the fact. He refused to reply to any question during investigations, saying the American consulate had forbidden him to answer any question.”
US officials have threatened to cut off the $1.5 billion of annual aid to Pakistan if Davis was not released. On Tuesday, Washington put bilateral contacts on hold.
On Sunday, the widow of one of the men shot dead committed suicide. The woman apparently feared that her husband’s killer would be let off by the Pakistan government.
