Capital police find missing cleric in CTD custody
Officials say they came to know of his arrest through newspapers
Police officials said that the police mobile van was on a routine patrol when it came under attack. PHOTO: EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
A cleric who went missing from a mosque in the capital around two months ago was ‘found’ in the custody of the Punjab Police counter-terrorism department (CTD).
Islamabad Police officials said CTD officials had not informed them about the cleric’s arrest, adding that they came to know that the man was in CTD custody through newspapers a few days ago.
Sher Afzal, the cleric, had gone missing from a mosque in Faizabad, Sector I-8/4, on August 15 this year. Witnesses said that two men came to see Afzal at the mosque, and when the cleric went outside to meet them, they shoved him into a waiting car and sped away.
The incident was reported to the Industrial Area police immediately and an application was submitted to lodge a case.
However, the police desisted from immediately resistering an FIR.
A few days ago, vernacular newspapers carried a story about Afzal being produced by the CTD in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court. Wajid Ali, who is Afzal’s deputy at the mosque, took clippings of the newspapers to the station to show officials that he was in CTD custody.
The Industrial Area police subsequently registered a case of kidnapping against two unidentified persons on November 3.
Sub-inspector Muhammad Ishaq, who is heading the investigation, told The Express Tribune on Sunday that they had confirmed with the CTD that Afzal was in their custody and that he had been booked under sections of the anti-terrorism act.
He added that the CTD did not inform the Islamabad Police about Afzal’s arrest, highlighting a key communication gap between different law enforcing and security agencies who quietly detain people and cause trouble in tracing their whereabouts.
Afzal hails from Mansehra. His colleagues say he has been a prayer leader and khateeb at the mosque for the past nine years. “He was not associated with any political or religious group or organisation,” they added.
Not an isolated case
Last month, Bhara Khau police had also registered a case of kidnapping against unidentified people after a seminary cleric was picked up by a group of unidentified gunmen from his house in June this year.
The family of Muhammad Anwar, who ran a seminary, told The Express Tribune that around 10-15 men wearing masks and armed with guns stormed the seminary in the early hours of June 13 and took four people away in their vehicles at gunpoint.
No progress has been made in that case.
Separately, the Islamabad High Court is hearing the case of a software engineer, Sajid Mehmood, who had been picked up from his home in Sectpr F-10/1 on the evening of March 14. Officials have yet to trace his whereabouts.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2016.
A cleric who went missing from a mosque in the capital around two months ago was ‘found’ in the custody of the Punjab Police counter-terrorism department (CTD).
Islamabad Police officials said CTD officials had not informed them about the cleric’s arrest, adding that they came to know that the man was in CTD custody through newspapers a few days ago.
Sher Afzal, the cleric, had gone missing from a mosque in Faizabad, Sector I-8/4, on August 15 this year. Witnesses said that two men came to see Afzal at the mosque, and when the cleric went outside to meet them, they shoved him into a waiting car and sped away.
The incident was reported to the Industrial Area police immediately and an application was submitted to lodge a case.
However, the police desisted from immediately resistering an FIR.
A few days ago, vernacular newspapers carried a story about Afzal being produced by the CTD in a Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court. Wajid Ali, who is Afzal’s deputy at the mosque, took clippings of the newspapers to the station to show officials that he was in CTD custody.
The Industrial Area police subsequently registered a case of kidnapping against two unidentified persons on November 3.
Sub-inspector Muhammad Ishaq, who is heading the investigation, told The Express Tribune on Sunday that they had confirmed with the CTD that Afzal was in their custody and that he had been booked under sections of the anti-terrorism act.
He added that the CTD did not inform the Islamabad Police about Afzal’s arrest, highlighting a key communication gap between different law enforcing and security agencies who quietly detain people and cause trouble in tracing their whereabouts.
Afzal hails from Mansehra. His colleagues say he has been a prayer leader and khateeb at the mosque for the past nine years. “He was not associated with any political or religious group or organisation,” they added.
Not an isolated case
Last month, Bhara Khau police had also registered a case of kidnapping against unidentified people after a seminary cleric was picked up by a group of unidentified gunmen from his house in June this year.
The family of Muhammad Anwar, who ran a seminary, told The Express Tribune that around 10-15 men wearing masks and armed with guns stormed the seminary in the early hours of June 13 and took four people away in their vehicles at gunpoint.
No progress has been made in that case.
Separately, the Islamabad High Court is hearing the case of a software engineer, Sajid Mehmood, who had been picked up from his home in Sectpr F-10/1 on the evening of March 14. Officials have yet to trace his whereabouts.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2016.