Juvenile justice: Inspector arrested for booking fourth grader in Darel

Zohaib was charged under anti-terrorism act for allegedly shooting voters on June 8, 2015


Shabbir Mir March 04, 2016
Zohaib was charged under anti-terrorism act for allegedly shooting voters on June 8, 2015. PHOTO: FILE

GILGIT: A police inspector was arrested in Gilgit on Friday for booking a seven-year-old boy under the anti-terrorism act (ATA).

Raji Rahmat was arrested on the orders of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge Justice Raja Shehbaz Khan. The orders were issued after the judge realised the accused was a minor identified as Zohaib Ahmad.

“So this is the perpetrator you have booked under ATA,” the judge said after the seven-year-old was brought before him.

Ruling in favour of the child, the judge ordered Rahmat be arrested and Zohaib be set free.

Following the verdict, police present in the courtroom handcuffed the inspector and took him away. IGP Zafar Iqbal Awan was also asked to initiate action against Rahmat under the departmental rules.

Root of the matter

Zohaib had been booked under the ATA over his alleged involvement in a shootout in Darel Valley in Diamer district during the legislative assembly elections in G-B on June 8, 2015.

A large number of people, including Zohaib, were injured in the incident.

According to his relatives, Zohaib had received injuries on his arms as he was sitting on a wall and watching people vote in the area when the violence occurred.

While investigating the incident, Rahmat collected information about people involved in the shootout.

The inspector included Zohaib in the list after someone took his name. He later helped the court issue an advertisement in newspapers against Zohaib which declared him an absconder and claimed he had escaped arrest.

Justice is served

Zohaib, along with his father, appeared in court on Friday, abiding by the instructions mentioned in the advertisements.

“We learned there were court orders against my child so I decided to appear before the judge with Zohaib,” Jehanzeb Khan, the minor’s father, told the media outside the court. “We are grateful that justice was delivered. It saved us from [many] unnecessary problems.”

Zohaib is a fourth grader attending Boys Middle High School Phuguch, Darel.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2016.

 

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