- The Punjab Crime Control Department faces allegations of systemic extrajudicial killings and intimidation
- From April to December 2025, CCD encounters killed 924 suspects with only two police casualties
- HRCP found uniform police narratives lacking independent witnesses in CCD encounter reports
The Pakistani Punjab government's much-touted Crime Control Department (CCD), established to combat organised and violent crime, is facing grave allegations of systemic extrajudicial killings, intimidation of families, and the erosion of constitutional safeguards, according to a fact-finding report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which has been accessed by NDTV.
Formed in early 2025 under amendments to the Police Order, the CCD was presented as the spearhead of the government's "Safe Punjab" vision-an elite unit meant to deliver swift justice against hardened criminals. But within months of its creation, a troubling pattern emerged. Between April and December 2025 alone, at least 670 police encounters attributed to the CCD were reported across Punjab, resulting in the deaths of 924 suspects. In stark contrast, only two police personnel were reported killed during the same period.
This extreme imbalance lies at the heart of HRCP's concerns. In genuine armed confrontations, experts argue, such casualty ratios are statistically implausible. Instead, the figures suggest a systematic policy in which lethal force has become routine rather than exceptional. On average, more than two CCD-led encounters were reported every day during the eight-month period reviewed by the commission.
Geographically, the encounters were widespread but concentrated in major urban and semi-urban districts. Lahore alone accounted for 139 incidents, followed by Faisalabad, Sheikhupura and Gujranwala. The majority of those killed were accused of offences such as dacoity, robbery and murder, while a significant number of cases recorded no clear information about the alleged crime at all.
Beyond the numbers, HRCP's report points to striking similarities in the official narratives surrounding these deaths. A review of first information reports (FIRs) and police press releases revealed near-identical language across districts and incidents: suspects allegedly "opened fire," police responded in "self-defence," accomplices "escaped under cover of darkness," and the accused died after briefly disclosing their identity and criminal background. Independent witnesses were conspicuously absent, and no FIR described a suspect surviving long enough to be arrested or treated.
"These are not incident-specific accounts," the report notes. "They appear to be copy-paste narratives." Such uniformity, HRCP argues, undermines the credibility of claims that each killing resulted from a spontaneous gun battle.
Families of the victims paint an even darker picture. HRCP documents allegations of illegal detention prior to encounters, refusal to hand over bodies without court intervention, pressure to conduct hurried burials, and threats aimed at silencing relatives. One particularly harrowing case involved a family from Bahawalpur and Sahiwal, five of whose members were allegedly picked up in coordinated raids and killed in separate encounters within 24 hours. The family claims the men were in CCD custody before their deaths and had no criminal record.
Journalists and crime reporters consulted by HRCP echoed these concerns. Several described most CCD encounters as "fake," noting that genuine shootouts almost invariably result in police casualties as well. Reporters also acknowledged a growing reliance on CCD-issued press releases, citing intimidation, restricted access, and a climate of fear that discourages independent verification.
Legal experts interviewed for the report warned that the CCD effectively operates as a parallel police force, with sweeping powers and minimal oversight. Under Pakistani law, every custodial death triggers mandatory magisterial inquiries and independent investigations, including oversight by the Federal Investigation Agency under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022. Yet HRCP found no evidence that these procedures were routinely followed in CCD cases.
The consequences, the report argues, go far beyond individual abuses. Encounter-based policing undermines the presumption of innocence, sidelines the judiciary, and transforms law enforcement officers into judge, jury and executioner. It also risks entrenching corruption, as allegations have surfaced of property seizures during raids and bribes demanded to avoid being targeted.
Courts have begun to take notice. The Lahore High Court has reportedly been receiving dozens of petitions daily related to alleged staged encounters, and in one rare instance, ordered murder charges against CCD officials in a Vehari case. Still, HRCP concludes that judicial responses remain largely reactive and case-specific, failing to address what appears to be a systemic policy problem.
In its conclusion, the commission warns that normalising extrajudicial killings as a crime-control strategy will inflict irreversible damage on Pakistan's legal system and democratic institutions. Sustainable public safety, it stresses, cannot be achieved through "lethal shortcuts" that bypass investigation, prosecution and accountability.
HRCP has called for an immediate moratorium on encounter operations, a high-powered judicial inquiry into the deaths of more than 900 people, and the creation of independent civilian oversight mechanisms. Without urgent corrective action, the report cautions, the CCD's troubling role may come to symbolise not safety, but the steady hollowing out of the rule of law in Punjab.
