Flawed investigation: ATC convicts two policemen for registration of false case

Man acquitted in kidnapping case

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday convicted two police officials for flawed investigations and registering a false case against five men.

ATC-II Judge Asif Majeed Awan convicted Inspector Malik Sajid and Sub-Inspector Muhammad Akram for carrying out a shoddy investigation which resulted in the registration of a fake case against five men.

The judge has sent both police officials to jail till the announcement of the final verdict. The court also imposed Rs500 fine on each of the convicts and noted that if they failed to pay the fine, they would spend an additional three days behind bars.

According to available details, Taxila police on June 9, 2015 registered a case under sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substance Act against Amjad Ali and four other men, claiming that explosive materials were recovered from their custody. The police said that the suspects were carrying the explosives in a Suzuki van.

The trial court, however, acquitted the five suspects on June 7, 2016 after the defense lawyer established that the van from which the explosives were recovered was already in the custody of the Taxila police. The police seized the van from the motorway on June 2, 2015.

Finding the discrepancy, Judge Awan issued notices to Taxila SHO Inspector Malik Sajid and his deputy SI Muhammad Akram for the flawed investigation.

Separately, the court acquitted a man accused in a case of kidnapping for ransom after the complainant said the accused did not kidnap him.

The court acquitted Qari Muhammad Alam in a ransom case registered by New Airport Police in Attock on August 23, 2013.

Complainant Aziz Ahmed stated in court that Qari was not involved in the kidnapping of his elder brother Muhammad Ramadan on August 21, 2013.

The court had already acquired five other men in the case for lack of evidence.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2016.