ISLAMABAD: Pakistan police on Thursday assured the Australian government of a “100 percent transparent” probe into the killing of a nine-year-old Australian girl in the country’s Punjab province this month, saying the investigation would be completed by the end of next week.
Pakistani Australian girl Hania Ahmed was killed on June 10 after police officers shot at her family’s car during an armed robbery in Punjab’s Chakwal city. Her father, Adeel Ahmed, 39, and 10-year-old brother, Aafan Ahmed, suffered critical gunshot wounds. Ahmed’s mother, Sidra Khan, remained unhurt in the incident.
Crime Control Department (CCD) personnel intervened in the robbery, during which gunmen had intercepted Ahmed’s family vehicle and held the family at gunpoint, according to an earlier CCD statement. During the confrontation, an exchange of gunfire occurred and the officer involved “mistakenly assessed that the suspects were attempting to flee in the victims’ vehicle and discharged his weapon.”
Police initially registered a case of murder and armed robbery against unidentified suspects. However, they later amended the case and arrested CCD Constable Shujaat Mughal on murder charges, following public outrage over the incident and a preliminary investigation. Police also said two robbers involved in a recent dacoity had also been killed in the incident.
“I want to assure the Australian government, through our foreign office and through our federal government, that this investigation will be 100 percent transparent,” CCD chief Sohail Zafar Chatha told reporters in Lahore on Thursday.
“CCD is acting in a very neutral way. The family of the victim have trust and faith in CCD. I am sure we will uphold the trust and we will come up to the expectations. Not only justice will be done, it will be seen to be done.”
Chatha’s assurance followed a statement by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in which he called for a “transparent” investigation into the killing.
The incident occurred days after the Australian Pakistani family returned from Hajj.
The girl’s father said the gunmen had intercepted their vehicle near the CCD office at 11:40 p.m. on June 10 and demanded their valuables.
“My wife and I complied…My wife took off her jewelry and handed it over,” Adeel was quoted as saying in the police report. “While these individuals were robbing us of our jewelry at gunpoint, a shot was fired. Taking cover behind the car, the individuals started firing, and cross-firing also commenced from the front side.”
Adeel attempted to speed away to protect his children, but the vehicle was struck by a hail of bullets from behind, wounding him and both children, according to the FIR. The family was rushed to a nearby hospital, where the nine-year-old girl was pronounced dead.
“The crime begins here: the gunfire was coming from the street, but the police officer believed it was coming from the vehicle. Acting on that assumption, he opened fire on the vehicle. The police officer was at fault, and his judgment was flawed. He should have positively identified the target before taking any action.
Only after being 100 percent certain that the person was the one firing the shots should he have opened fire. He could not lawfully fire merely on the basis of suspicion or assumption. Therefore, this act would be considered a criminal offense,” Chatha said.
“We are legally bound to protect the life of innocent citizens, and if, during such a rescue operation, even the most notorious criminal manages to escape, we consider that to be fully in accordance with the standard practices. In this case, the police officer was at fault because he made the wrong decision, and that excessive use of force led to the tragic demise of a little girl and injuries to her brother and father.”
The shooting came at a time of amid heightened scrutiny around the Punjab CCD, a specialized police unit established last year to combat organized crime.
Rights groups, including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), have accused the department of carrying out extrajudicial killings disguised as police shootouts. The HRCP says it has documented at least 670 encounters resulting in 924 deaths between April 2025, when the CCD was formed, and December 2025. CCD denies allegations of extrajudicial killings.
The CCD chief told reporters on Thursday they would complete the investigation and submit the charge sheet to the court by the end of next week.
“I assure you that by the end of next week we will complete the investigation and submit the charge sheet to the court by the end of next week. We will also request the court to conclude the proceedings as soon as possible,” he said.
