A simple case of obtaining physical remand of a suspect allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a police inspector, resulted in court summons for two top cops of the city police.
An anti-terrorism court on Friday summoned the Deputy Inspector General and Senior Superintendent of Police (Operations) to appear before the court on March 28, on charges of faulty investigations in the kidnapping case of police inspector Rana Pervez.
The police inspector had gone missing from the outskirts of the city some four months ago. Later, the police traced his whereabouts to the tribal area of North Waziristan, where he was being held by a splinter group of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Punjab, Asmat Mawiya Group.
The summons came after the city police produced Qari Abdul Malik, an alleged member of the gang of kidnappers, before the court to obtain his physical remand. The Anti Terrorism Court while granting a three-day remand to the police asked them to explain certain technical loopholes in the investigations of the case. After the officials failed to satisfy the judge, the court issued orders to the top officials to appear before it.
Inspector Rana Pervaiz, a patient of angina, left his house on December 3, 2010 and never returned. His family had told the police that he had gone to meet some unknown person in Tarnol from where he was kidnapped. The last call he made from his cellphone to his house was from Tarnol.
Later, his family told the police that he had gone to meet some people who had shown interest in purchasing a piece of land in Tarnol from his business partner, a property dealer. His business partner, an Ahmadi (a religious minority), was the actual target of the kidnappers.
The kidnappers had mistaken Pervez for an Ahmadi and detained him. Later, they transported him to the tribal areas. After confirming that he was a Sunni, the militants promised to release him, but never did.
Investigators claimed they had arrested one of the suspects involved in Pervez’s kidnapping. Police sources said the suspect had the knowledge of the exact whereabouts of the inspector and could give useful information.
He was involved in carrying out reconnaissance of potential targets for kidnappings for ransom.
Their favourite targets have been businessmen from the Ahmadi community, who are particularly vulnerable to such crimes.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ