Farah was said to have jumped out of a window from the flat rented out by her friend, who claimed she had taken the extreme step when she was drunk.

The businessman, Waqar, who was with her at the time she died, was set free by Ramna Police, after he recorded his statement.

The police failed to bring Farah’s death on record or register an FIR even three days after her death.

It was only when SP Sajid Kayani directed the police officials to register a murder case, did they lodge an FIR.

Without conducting an investigation, the police registered a suicide report.

They recorded the female friend’s statement in which she declared Farah committed suicide of her free will and presented it to their superiors.

Waqar, his friend Amir and a female companion were presented before the SP and later allowed to leave.

Waqar’s call data record shows that he was frequently in touch with Farah, but the police have decided to ignore this as a possible piece of evidence.

According to Investigation Officer Abdur Razzaq, Waqar would spend some time with Farah before heading to his house. But he could not answer why Waqar or his friends did not try to stop Farah from jumping out the window.

It should be mentioned that it was only when the suspicious circumstances of Farah’s death were highlighted by the media, that the SP inquired about the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 5^th, 2013. 

LAHORE / ISLAMABAD: After acquiring certified copies of the Supreme Court’s detailed verdict on the Asghar Khan case, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has started its work to implement the order.

The agency will initially issue notices to those who had allegedly received money from the military during the 1990 elections. The politicians will be given a month to pay back.

The FIA will further issue a second notice to those who fail to return the money and will be given a week’s time.  The agency will extend the deadline on request but the politicians will then have to submit a written statement, promising to pay the money back in a month or two.

According to an FIA official, Interior Minister Rehman Malik advised investigators to discuss the recovery process with law ministry officials.

In case of no recovery, the FIA team will take further steps as mentioned in an action plan formulated with the help of legal advisers.

This story was originally published in Roznama Express on November 15, 2012. 

The proposal was sent to the Cabinet Division for final approval some months back, said Water and Management Director General Sanaullah Aman, but is still awaiting final approval. Aman also warned of “serious water shortage” in the capital soon if the project continues to be delayed.

The initial cost for the project was estimated to be Rs35 billion, which has now swelled up to Rs50 billion due to inflation. The proposal calls for new water lines from Ghazi Barotha Dam to supply drinking water to the capital city.

Aman said that water supply lines and sewerage system should be changed after every 10 years — the existing network of pipes in Islamabad is almost 40 years old.

More than 60% of drinking water is wasted in the city due to leaking pipes and sewage water mixing into potable, he added.

A Capital Development Authority (CDA) official said the authority is facing an annual deficit of Rs900 million each year due to these leaking pipes.

He added that CDA had sent a proposal worth Rs10 billion to have the pipes replaced, but the Cabinet Division is yet to approve the project.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2012.

ISLAMABAD: Sector I-10 has become a centre of street crime. Around six to 10 women, while going to the market or for a walk, lose their purses and cell phones to muggers on motorbikes everyday. Moreover, over half a dozen cars and motorbikes have been stolen from the area during the past month and a half. At night, impersonators in the uniform of police flashing blue lights on their private vehicles loot people on the pretext of search and security.

Much to the dismay of the locals, the police have failed to improve the situation. “Instead of arresting the suspects, the duty officers of the Sabzi Mandi Police Station start interrogating the complainants,” said Imtiaz Wali, a local.

“They harass the complainants threatening to book them under section 142 of CrPC for misguiding police, terming the complaints lies,” he added. Wali said that after such a response from the police, those seeking justice preferred to sit back and remain silent.

The residents of the area have appealed to the Inspector General of Police and the Senior Superintendent of Police to take notice. Requesting anonymity, the residents said that in the area, robbers who display fake number plates of police on their vehicles were looting the people.  A few days back, some people pretending to be officials of CIA and displaying blue light on their vehicle snatched Rs150,000 from a trader of rice.

On Sunday, the residents had called the police after identifying two muggers standing at a street-corner shop who had been involved in snatching Rs20,000, but the police did not come.

These men had also taken ransom in a kidnapping incident eight years ago. In this regard, a person called the office of The Express Tribune and said he had seen the person who had kidnapped him after offering lift on his car eight years ago. “The suspect again offered me a lift in a similar fashion, but escaped after I called for help,” said the complainant.

“The police did not arrest these suspects despite the passage of eight years after repeated calls to the SHO of the police station,” he added. The residents of the area have demanded registration of an FIR against the SHO of the Sabzi Mandi police station for deliberately ignoring the crime.

On the other hand, if the performance of the police station is to be taken into account, the Sabzi Mandi police station, according to police’s own report, had only registered cases on 150 thefts, robbery and mugging out of over 300 such incidents.

Its overall performance also remained poor. Out of the 150 registered cases, the Sabzi Mandi police could follow up on only 14. A total of 57 cars and motorcycles were stolen, out of which only three could be traced.

The present SHO of Sabzi Mandi was previously deputed at the Shalimar Police Station from where he had been removed for rise crime. “Now when he has been transferred here, the incidents of street crime and car theft have increased alarmingly in this area,” said Ali, another local.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2011.

ISLAMABAD: The capital police on Tuesday recovered a young boy from Charsadda who was allegedly kidnapped by two constables of the city police on October 15, high officials of the police said.

The police have suspended and arrested constables Shah Mansoor and Ghulam Farid.

Muhammad Alam, a resident of G-9/3, lodged a complaint with Margalla police that his son, Zubair Alam, was kidnapped by the accused from sector G-9/3 in broad daylight. The police had formed an investigation team led by the SHO Inspector Muhammad Hussain Lasi to probe into
the matter.

Sources said that the constables worked in collaboration with Dawood Khan, leader of a ‘kidnapper’s clan’ from Tungi, Charsadda. The kidnapped boy was taken to Tungi after abduction.

After being approached for ransom, the investigating officer, impersonating as a member of the family, dealt with the accused. The police were able to recover the boy and arrest the accused red-handed from Tungi. The constables will be produced before the court today (Wednesday).

The two policemen confessed that they went to the house of Alam in their uniform and kidnapped Zubair. Dawood Khan has not been arrested so far.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: Policemen stationed at check-posts on the exit points of the capital have been accused of forcefully collecting Eidi (money given out during Eid felicitations) from commuters. Long queues of vehicles could be seen at the Islamabad Toll Plaza, Benazir Bhutto Roundabout, Golra Check-post and Murree Road, where the police personnel had stopped the traffic at will.

People were leaving for their native cities and villages to celebrate Eid, while being harassed for Eidi in return for letting the vehicles pass through the picket.

Two residents of Meera Jaffer in Islamabad were leaving for Karachi when their taxi was stopped at the Benazir Bhutto Roundabout. Police personnel stationed at the check-post  demanded Rs500 per passenger from the taxi. “When I asked why should I give so much Eidi, the policemen replied, ‘because otherwise you will have to spend your Eid with us.’”

In another incident, police had a quarrel with a person after he failed to give them Rs1000 for Eidi. Later on, they let him go when he arranged Rs735 for them.

Gul Mohammed, Najeeb, Bakht Khan, Naveed and Hameed along with other people told The Express Tribune on Friday that police were on a drive to rob commuters out of their money. There was no senior official present on the occasion to put an end to the practice. “There is no stopping them and no one to complain to,” said Hameed.

Furthermore, Naveed said that the in-charge of such check-posts were themselves involved in these malpractices and received a share of the money collected from the commuters.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: The federal home ministry has approved the setting up of a unique police station at the federal capital, the jurisdiction of which will be the whole country.  The proposed police station will be called the CID police station and its job will be to arrest terrorists and persons accused of committing serious crimes.

The police station will not have to involve, or the get permission of, local police stations to take the action. It will have sweeping powers to conduct raids and arrest anyone. It will also investigate serious crimes, including kidnapping for ransom and big robberies and thefts, for which an exclusive investigation wing is being set up within the police station.

The federal home minister is expected to make a formal announcement about this in a few days. However, the district administration of Islamabad has already received a formal letter and approved it.

The approval for manning it with 80 police officers and officials has also been given, and a building to house the police station has already been acquired. The station will be equipped with the latest arms and paraphernalia.

Sources told Express that though there are already two “CID police stations” in  Lahore and Karachi, their jurisdictions are limited to their respective districts, whereas this new CID police station will have the authority to take action in any part of the country and against any persons regardless of their place of origin.

Commenting on the move, former chief of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) Brigadier (retd) Imtiaz Ahmed said that “eventually it will be misused to oppress political opponents”. Terrorist activities have been there for more than a decade and the present government has been there for about two-and- a-half years, he said, questioning what prompted the move now.

He also said that if there had been any real information, the local, district or provincial authorities had never hesitated to take action, nor have they shown any resistance or non-cooperation. There is no hindrance in any action against any terrorists or criminals in any part of the country, he said.

The former IB chief was of the opinion that the new concept will not produce any results, nor will it facilitate efforts against terrorists in any way. However, it has the potential of being misused for creating harassment for political opponents. “If you have sound information that there are terrorists, say, in Multan or Mardan or Quetta or Shikarpur, and it is important to take action in the national interest, will the local police not cooperate?” he questioned, adding “it is simply impossible that they refuse; so when all the setup is already there, why the unnecessary new mischievous acts like this or the National Counter-Terrorism Authority? They really make no sense. This is to cover up for the failures of the present government or aimed at political misuse.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: Negotiations between Chief Commissioner Tariq Mahmood Pirzada and relatives of some 300 missing persons on Thursday proved to be unsuccessful.

Digressing from the main demand of the protestors for the recovery of their relatives, the chief commissioner tried to convince Defence of Human Rights Chairperson Aamna Masood Janjua to discontinue protesting on the issue for least one month. Aamna gave the deadline of July 12 for the recovery of the persons and responded that she would not accept any “childlike” proposals. “If sincere efforts had been made, I could have waited a month,” she said, adding that she would launch a complete protest from July and extend it to the premises of the parliament and supreme court.

“I will continue to protest for missing people and my husband till my dying breath,” Aamna said. She went on to say that the Rehman Malik and chief commissioner had wasted her time and meetings with them did not bear any fruit.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the Ministry of Law and Justice Affairs and the district administration to build 1,000 chambers for lawyers of Islamabad.

These are to be built in sector G-11 under the ‘Insaaf tak Rasai’ programme and following the president’s directive work has begun immediately.

Earlier, the President was informed about clashes between the Islamabad Bar Association and police, the second one this year, over the construction of lawyers’ chambers.

The president has directed the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, Babar Awan to take charge of the programme. An important meeting of the local administration officials was conducted on Monday in which it was decided to accelerate the construction work for a new district courts complex, which is now going to house the newly announced lawyers’ chambers.

Offices of local administration, police and district courts had to be shifted four years ago to the newly constructed Judicial Complex in sector G-10, but former President Pervez Musharraf set up Islamabad High Court there instead.

“The lawyers were left with no place for their chambers,” officials added.

While briefing Chief Commissioner Islamabad Tariq Mahmood Pirzada, the concerned officers said that construction of the complex was to be completed within 18 months, starting from March this year.

Pirzada instructed to accelerate the construction work and complete it before the prescribed time. He also directed the concerned officers to pursue the Law ministry for immediate release of funds for ‘Insaaf tak Rasai’ programme, so that the chambers could be started.

The Chief Commissioner will meet Babar Awan to discuss this matter in the next few days. Pirzada also asked the Capital Development Authority to release funds of Rs200 million immediately, so that construction work on the complex, as a whole, could be intensified.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2010.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has approved the provision of expenses of marriages for 4,000 poor, needy or orphan girls selected from across the country. The funds will be given from Baitul Maal through members of parliament.

Every deserving unmarried girl will be provided up to Rs50,000 through a cheque. A cabinet meeting chaired by the PM approved the plan authorising every member of the National Assembly or the Senate to recommend a maximum of eight girls from each constituency.

They have to submit the names immediately to their respective district chairman of the Baitul Maal who will issue the cheques instantaneously. The PM has advised the MNAs and the Senators to suggest only one name from a household.

The PM told the cabinet that the project is initiated on an experimental basis, its scope will be extended if transparency is maintained and positive results emerge. The number of girls to be supported under this project will be raised by three times every year. This means that by the year 2013 – the election year – some 70,000 girls from across the country will be getting this cash help.

The PM has advised the members of parliament to select the names of “really deserving girls purely on merit” so that this scheme could be extended. All the parliamentarians have started compiling details of deserving girls in their respective districts, it was also added.