False ACLC complaint: Testing ... testing ... police 15

Car owner falsely reports car theft to check how quickly the police responds.

KARACHI: Factory owner Mohammad Ahmed should have more faith in the men in uniform. The owner of a Corolla decided on Saturday to falsely report his car as stolen just to check how quickly the police and his tracker company would respond.

First Ahmed called the car tracker company and filed a complaint about his car, No. ASP707, being snatched by unidentified men. The tracker company then informed the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) that sprung into action as soon as they received the report. SSP Javaid Akbar Riaz told The Express Tribune that Ahmed had made the call at around 11 am and the ACLC had found out that the car was on the move at Sharae Faisal by 1:30 pm.

The police team, along with tracker company staff, signalled the vehicle to stop near Sharae Faisal Star Gate but the driver dodged the police and escaped. Meanwhile, the Rangers also joined the chase and with the help of the police managed to stop the car at Drigh Road and arrest the driver within the limits of Sharae Faisal police station. The driver emerged unhurt even though five bullets hit the windscreen and door of the car. “The police had to fire to stop the car,” said SSP Javaid. “They were firing because they obviously didn’t know that the driver was the complainant himself.”

The driver damaged several cars in his bid to escape from the police and had put everyone’s life at risk, he said. Firing by the police caused panic on the roads as well, causing several cars to ram into each other.

The offence is known as ‘wrong information to police or government functionaries’ under Section 182, SSP Javaid said. “One can say it is playing with the law. The offender can be sent to jail for one or two months and can be fined any amount by the court, depending on the gravity of the offence.”

This ‘prank’ was highly reckless and dangerous, he commented.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th,  2011.