Pakistani police officer arrested over ‘mistaken identity’ fatal shooting of Australian girl

A Perth father whose daughter was killed in a tragic case of mistaken identity in Pakistan has labelled the police force responsible “brainless” and “incompetent”, saying officers opened fire on his family while they were being robbed.

Hania Ahmad, 9, had been visiting relatives in Chakwal with her parents Adeel and Sidra and her brother Aafan on Wednesday when the family was confronted on the street after stepping out of their rental car.

“Two robbers arrived on a motorcycle. A robber carrying a pistol came to the car and asked Adeel and Sidra to hand over her jewellery and cash,” a family member told local media outlet Dawn.

He said Sidra handed over some jewellery, but the incident drew the attention of a nearby Crime Control Department official who went to retrieve a firearm and opened fire on the two thieves.

Hania’s father Adeel drove their rental car away from the scene, with police mistaking the vehicle for the thieves’ getaway car and giving chase, peppering it with bullets and causing the brakes to fail.

Adeel, 39, eventually lost control of the car and it crashed.

Hania was shot four times and pronounced dead at the scene while her father and brother, believed to be 10 years old, were taken to hospital suffering gun shot wounds. Adeel has since been discharged. Hania’s mother was unharmed in the shooting.

The Crime and Control Department announced an update to the incident late on Sunday confirming it was investigating the officer involved.

“The officer in question was suspended and taken into custody on the same day,” it said.

“He was later formally arrested and presented to court from where he was sent to jail on judicial remand.

“The department is in contact with the affected family on a daily basis to present them to the ongoing investigation.”

The department said Hania’s family was satisfied with the speed and transparency of the legal process, and said the incident was a tragedy where an innocent girl had lost her life.

However, speaking to SBS Urdu, Adeel expressed his frustration at the Crime Control Department where the officer worked, which was set up to combat organised crime in the state.

It has been controversial since its inception in February 2025, primarily because of its tendency to bypass judicial processes.

“The CCD people are incredibly incompetent, they are not professional and are brainless, they just have guns and all they do is shoot,” he said.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has previously raised serious concerns about the enforcement powers of the CCD and alleged that it routinely engages in extrajudicial killings and staged “encounters” with people in custody.

It said since the CCD began, there had been 924 deaths of suspects during “encounters”, with only two police officers killed over the same period. The Commission said this amounted to more than two fatal encounters daily in Pakistan.

“They have not provided any footage of the incident, CCD almost certainly has footage,” Adeel said.

“All of the firing was initiated by the CCD when we were being robbed. The thieves fired back after they were shot at.

“We were shot by the CCD, the thieves did not shoot us.”

Local media outlet Dawn reported the two thieves who had been involved in the original incident had also since been killed in “an encounter with the CCD” just three hours after Hania had been shot dead.

Adeel went on to detail the extent of his family’s injuries, and claimed they were caused by an AK-47 firearm.

“My son Aafan Ahmad was shot twice – in the lower back (hip and buttocks) one bullet nicked his hip bone, and another tore into his bladder,” he said.

“He has had surgery, he is now out of danger, and now faces a long recovery. He has a 40 millimetre hole in his buttock, I have a 30 to 40 millimetre hole in my arm.

“My daughter had three to four wounds on her body and she died at the scene.”

“This matter should be taken very seriously. I would request Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to use higher channels – get in touch with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, call him, meet him, email him. Whatever he needs to do.”

Albanese backed Adeel’s calls on Monday.

“Australia expects there to be transparency and a proper investigation of these circumstances. My understanding is that not only has a young girl lost her life, but there have been other members of the family injured as well in circumstances which are dire indeed,” he told reporters in Canberra.

He said his heart went out to the family and the Pakistani-Australian community grieving the girl’s loss.

“A nine-year-old girl visiting Pakistan with her family should have been a time of joy.”

Adeel claimed officials he had met with had given his family the impression the “CCD people should be protected”.

“We are not happy at all with our situation,” he said.

“We want the people who did this to be punished.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it was providing consular assistance to the Ahmads.

“We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.

Hania attended the Australian Islamic College in Kewdale, in Perth’s south-east.

Principal Abdullah Khan said the school held a special assembly on Friday to remember Hania.

“We are in a state of shock and disbelief, it’s an extremely tragic event that has happened to this innocent girl and her family,” he told 9 News Perth.

“She was an excellent, happy, bubbly, friendly student in our college.

“Her friends, and the people who she played with at the college, and interacted with, they’re all extremely sad and disheartened.”

Premier Roger Cook said his his heart went out to Hania, the Ahmad family and anyone impacted by “this horrible series of events”.

“I haven’t had any further updates in relation to what led to the incident but it’s such a horrible and horrifying an account to hear of,” he said.

“It’s absolutely heartbreaking and devastating for the community.

“We all heard the news over the weekend and are shocked, absolutely shocked.”

He said the state government would support the family and the school community in any way it could, but that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were the main government agency dealing with the incident.

“Other members of her family who were injured in that event, are still overseas, and we will obviously do everything we can to support the Commonwealth,” Cook said.