Millat Park murder : CCPO appreciates his force for cracking the case

Confirms four suspects, including a woman, have been taken into custody

LAHORE: Capital City Police Officer Amin Wains appreciated the efforts of the investigating team that claims to have cracked the Millar park murder-robbery case.

During a press conference at Qila Gujjar Singh police lines on Wednesday, he announced that four suspects, including a woman, had been arrested.

The police had been under much pressure from all quarters, including the chief minister’s office, after five people were shot dead in the incident which took place about two weeks ago.

The arrested suspects were identified as Zaheer Abbass alias Bassu, Zahid Ali, Jahangir alias Bhaloo and Umm-e-Farwa. All of them are residents of Kot Sawar in Pindi Bhattian.

The four have criminal records and are wanted for dozens of robbery cases in Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura. The suspects would rent out a house in a particular city, usually in slum areas, to carry out their activities. The woman member of the group would survey the area, identify a target by assessing their financial standing and supply the weapons to her fellow bandits for the robbery bid.

The CCPO said this was an emerging trend in which a woman supplied the weapons as it was easy for her to avoid police detection at pickets.

On November 19, two suspects entered Parwaz Paan Shop in Pakki Thathi where there were arrangements for photocopying and money transfer. They took people inside the shop hostage and looted money.

While leaving, one of the robbers managed to step outside the shop, but the other was caught by those in the shop. In his bid to escape, the restrained robber opened fire and the other suspect also returned to help his accomplice.

Both men managed to exit the store and continued firing indiscriminately, resulting in bullet injuries to four people inside the shop and two people outside.

The victims outside the shop included a worker at a tyre shop and a passer-by. Five of the victims ultimately succumbed to their injuries.

The case remained unsolved for a while, but police recorded eyewitness accounts to determine the physical appearance of the bandits. In the melee immediately after the robbery, the victims managed to unmask one of the suspects.

The investigating teams looked into the history of 229 people with a similar appearance and who maintained criminal records. The suspects were finally shortlisted to a dozen and the cops finally narrowed it down to four.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 1^st, 2016.