No official from the police public relations team was willing to comment. IGP Tariq Masood Yasin and Operations SSP Sajid Kiani were also not approachable despite repeated attempts. PHOTO: INP
The police record shows that five people were murdered within the jurisdiction of Banigala police, four in the jurisdiction of Tarnol, while three people were murdered within the limits of Ramna Police Station. Bhara Kahu police reported two murder cases, and one each was reported to Margalla, Golra, Sabzi Mandi, Nilore and Koral police.
The worst of these incidents was a murder-suicide on June 22, when an Islamabad Police constable shot dead four persons including two women and a child at a house in Banigala before turning the gun on himself. The victims included 35-year-old advocate Irum Iqbal, her four-year-old son Hussain Ali, and their 65-year-old housemaid Hajra Bibi. Muhammad Arshad, a local plumber, was also at the family’s home and killed by the policeman.
Why Constable Muhammad Mehmood killed the four and himself with his official gun is still a mystery for the police. Banigala SHO Inspector Muhammad Aslam says they investigated Iqbal’s mother-in-law, Gul Nisa, who survived the attack, and Iqbal’s husband, Zahid Hussain. “Mehmood had been a tenant of the family and owed them some back rent. According to Nisa, the family had demanded that he pay his arrears, which enraged the constable,” the SHO said. Another police official had said that Mehmood would often visit the family.
The Ramna and Bhara Kahu police succeeded in arresting suspects in all five cases they registered. Tarnol police registered four murder cases and made arrests in two. Investigators were unwilling to provide updates on progress, if any, in the other two cases.
Suspects not arrested
Though police have arrested suspects in nine cases, cops are still clueless about culprits in three murder cases. In another case, a man booked for torturing and killing a 12-year-old boy was also yet to be arrested.
A 50-year-old man was found dead on a greenbelt on June 22. The man, who died of gunshot injuries, was yet to be identified. Police said the man had been killed at least 12 days before the body was found in a ditch in the green belt. “The body was so decomposed that his fingerprints could not be taken,” said the investigation officer. No headway was made in this case.
Similarly, a 28-year-old woman was tortured to death and dumped in a forested area near Koral. Though the body was found in March, a case was registered in June, after the post-mortem report confirmed that she was tortured and killed. In this case, the body had started decomposing and fingerprints could not be taken. DNA test results were still awaited.
Apart from 19 murder cases, the police also registered 28 murder-attempt cases in Islamabad during the two months.
Citizens express alarm
Citizens have also expressed alarm at the rise in crime cases in the capital. “Islamabad is considered to be among the safest cities in the country. I am surprised to learn that 19 people were murdered in just two months,” said Muhammad Aslam, a resident of sector G-6. It is pertinent to note that police had also registered eight murder cases in May this year.
No official from the police public relations team was willing to comment. IGP Tariq Masood Yasin and Operations SSP Sajid Kiani were also not approachable despite repeated attempts.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2016.
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