Robbers impersonating policemen on the rise

Police register four cases in a month; two still unsolved .

ISLAMABAD: Incidents of fraudsters impersonating police and other security officials, and looting the innocent are on the rise in the federal capital.

Police registered four such cases over the last 25 days.

Two are unsolved, while parties have agreed to a settlement in another.

In many such cases, the fraudsters follow people particularly outside banks and money changers, intercept them at a vulnerable place, and pressurise them by accusing them of being drug peddlers or thieves.

The fraudsters tell the people that they are cops and want to search them.

Many people willingly offer themselves and their belongings for search, without examining their credentials.

Sometimes they even tell victims to collect the items taken from police stations.

These impersonators usually prey upon the people who are on foot and cannot chase them.

A police officer told The Express Tribune that a few years ago they busted a major gang for looting people in the garb of being security officials.

The gang was operating near Lehtrar Road and Tarlai.

He said smaller gangs may still be operating in the city.

Recent incidents

On May 21, two fake cops looted a student outside a money changer in Blue Area.

Abdullah Yahya told the police that two men stopped him and showed police ID.

They accused the victim of carrying drugs and said they wanted to search him.

He offered himself for the search, but the fraudsters pulled out Rs164,500 from his pocket and sped away.

Kohsar police registered a case against unidentified persons the same day but have not been able to trace them.

Bhara Kahu police arrested a person who defrauded three persons on May 19 by impersonating a colonel and promising them jobs in the UK.

The suspect, Aamir Hafeez, was released on bail on May 21 after he returned the amount to the complainants. Police said they had completed investigation in the case and submitted challan in court.

On May 11, Koral police booked five persons for impersonating police officials and depriving a resident of Ghauri Town of Rs50,000.

The incident was reported to police on April 29 but the police registered an FIR on May 11, after the complainant moved the court.

In the case, the SHO said, the two parties had patched up and the case had been disposed of.

Another man was deprived of Rs80,000 during a body search, in I-10/3 on April 19, by a man who said he was a cop. Police are yet to trace the suspect in this case too.

A senior police officer said that they had arrested several gangs impersonating security officials over the past years.

He said sometimes people misreport, citing a case where a man said he was deprived of Rs200,000 after he withdrew the amount from a bank, but the police found that he never had that much money in his account.

Asked what people should do if someone in civilian clothes demands to search them, he said nobody should present themselves for checking to any person who was not in proper police uniform.

He said any official in plain clothes could only search citizens, if accompanied by uniformed policemen.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2016.