Police accused of registering 'fake' case against two minors

Families accuse police of falsifying theft case due to non-payment of bribe

KARACHI: In an unusual incident, the police arrested and booked Thursday night two minors on charges of stealing a motorcycle in District East of Karachi. Though the families of the children claim that the police have registered a fake case against the children as the cops were refused 'Eidi', the police insist that they have evidence that the children stole the motorcycle.

The children, Ajlan and Mohsin, both around 12-years-old, were roaming around on a motorcycle when the police stopped them during snap-checking in Ferozabad area.

"The police had received a complaint that a motorcycle was stolen," said Gulshan division SP Dr Muhammad Rizwan. "On scrutiny, the police found out that it was the same motorcycle, which was reported to have been stolen."



The police then took the children into custody, registered a case against them and detained them at Ferozabad police station.

On the other hand, the children's families staged a protest against the incident and demanded action against the police officials for lodging a fake case as well as the immediate release of the minors.

In an interesting turn of the events, the owner of the motorcycle, Nazeer Awan, denied that his motorcycle had been stolen and instead claimed that the children detained were his nephews. "The police stopped the children during snap-checking and arrested them for not paying them 'Eidi'," claimed Awan. "My motorcycle was stolen and recovered a long time ago."



Awan said he has produced the relevant documents showing that his stolen motorcycle was recovered way back in 2014. "Despite the fact that I produced the documents and recovery letter of my motorcycle, the SHO booked my nephews on charges of stealing," Awan said. "Even though I showed each and every document, the SHO continued asking for 'Eidi' and booked the children in a fake case when we refused to bribe him."

The family appealed to the police and government high-ups, including Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal, to take action against SHO Rao Rafiq for registering a fake case.

The police, however, deny Awan's claims. According to the police, Awan has no relation to the children. The police further claim that the children are not brothers but are neighbours.



"Awan had approached us a few hours before the children's arrest and complained that his bike was stolen," SP Rizwan maintained. He further explained that since Awan lives in the same neighbourhood, he was later pressured by the children's families to change his stance. "He was approached by a government official along with the families to withdraw the case," SP Rizwan claimed, adding that Awan was showing the documents of recovery of his motorcycle in 2014 while the children were arrested for stealing the motorcycle Thursday night.

The officer further maintained that after stealing the motorcycle, the children went to a mechanic's shop where they changed the bike's registration number and some other parts so that it could not be identified. The police also have the statement of the mechanic and the confessional statements of the children, said SP Rizwan. He said the police aim to arrest the children's patrons, who were using them for crime.

The children were sent to the juvenile jail.