Fatal robberies: Under pressure, police make little progress

Force yet to arrest primary suspects of Millat Town’s botched robbery case

LAHORE: Panic mode has set into the Lahore police as they have failed to make significant progress in the murder of five people in a botched robbery at Millat Park. The force has yet to report any meaningful headway in the robbery on a Garden Town main road.

Rather than going after the criminals, officials have increased snap-checking and patrolling. However, standard operating procedures are being compromised in setting up pickets.

Punjab IGP Mushtaq Sukhera had earlier ordered police to stop manning these pickets after two constables were shot dead by unidentified suspects at Iqbal Town in February 2016.

A similar incident occurred in Faisalabad a week after the attack in Iqbal Town.  As a result, the IGP asked police to establish pickets at entry and exit points only after following the aforementioned protocols. The decision was taken when it was discovered police was suffering from a severe shortage of bulletproof jackets and helmets.

A senior police officer said those in command of the force were demanding an unrealistic level of performance from their subordinates.

He said that policy of establishing and then abandoning pickets, based on incidents and circumstances, clearly displayed the myopic vision of the city’s police leadership.

The panic among the police has largely been created due to the pressure exerted by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is demanding immediate results from the police.

Shahbaz took notice of these recent incidents and demanded the arrest of the suspects within 72 hours. On Monday, the CM held another meeting and asked the CCPO about police action in these cases. The latter assured Shahbaz the suspects would be arrested soon.

As far as progress in the Millat Park murder case and robbery in Garden Town, police has, thus far, only managed to ascertain the identity of the suspects.

Police managed to determine the identity of the suspects after obtaining CCTV footage from nearby areas. Two of the main accused have been identified as Zahid alias Basu and Jahangir alias Bhaloo. Police have taken more than two dozen people into custody in the case, but are yet to report a major breakthrough.

In the  Garden Town case, police sent pictures of the suspects to NADRA and the Forensic Science Agency.

They have been identified as Zaman Abbass 27, a resident of Shadman and Ali, a resident of Chungi Amar Sadhi. The suspects have a past criminal record and police have taken their family members into custody.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2016.