Suspected prostitution: Two women, man released on bail

Separately, public works engineers remanded

PESHAWAR: Granting bail to two women and a man arrested for suspected involvement in prostitution on Thursday, the Peshawar High Court questioned police performance over taking action against evils of society.

A single-judge bench of Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani said if the police wants no one can do any wrong, but the police itself is often involved. He added officers register cases but do not fulfil requirements for fair investigation.

Chamkani said this while hearing a petition filed by one of the three arrested persons, Anwar Taj, through Arshad Hussain Yousafzai. Yousafzai told the bench the Paharipura police arrested three people on November 11, 2015 on public complaints for their alleged involvement in immoral activities. However, he added, the police failed to prove the allegations. The suspects were booked under sections which did not support the police report. The petitioner’s representative argued a local elder’s statement was not produced before the court and no search warrant was provided, therefore the arrests should be considered illegal.

The prosecutor, however, argued the two women and man were arrested after proper investigation. The police had received complaints from locals in Paharipura about the three individuals’ involvement in running a brothel. However, the bench ordered the release of the suspects on bail after hearing the arguments.

Meanwhile, an accountability court handed over officials of Pakistan Public Works Department to National Accountability Bureau on a five-day remand over charges of embezzlement.

A NAB prosecutor told accountability court judge Muhammad Asim Imam that engineer Muhammad Asif and assistant engineer Muhammad Nisar misappropriated millions of rupees from funds allocated for paving streets and improving the water supply lines in Batkhela. “They [the accused] are already in jail on judicial remand but NAB found the funds were misappropriated,” the prosecutor said. He asked the court to hand the accused over to NAB on remand. The court accepted the plea and adjourned the case till the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2016.