Diplomatic Enclave incident: Suspect moved to AFIC for her ‘heart’ problem

Police officer claims suspect tried to cheat her medical test

ISLAMABAD: A woman, arrested for abusing and threatening cops who had stopped her from entering the Diplomatic Enclave in a car which did not display a number plate, was moved to a specialist heart institute on Monday owing to her ailment even as hearings on her bail plea were put off for a day.

When the bail plea of the suspect, Dr Shehla Raza, was taken up on Monday, ASI Tahir Farooq (the complainant in the case) appeared before the bench urged the court to put off the hearings for a day so that they can hire a legal counsel to represent them.

Hearing this, Civil Judge Saqib Javed remarked that the police officer can go out into the judicial complex and hire a lawyer. The court then proceeded to hear arguments from both sides.

Dr Raza’s lawyer told the court that in the first information report (FIR), lodged against his client at the Secretariat police station, included five charges. Four of these charges, he argued, were bailable offences while one was not bailable.

He, hence, demanded that his client’s bail be approved.

Shabbir Tanoli, the station house officer (SHO) of the Secretariat police station, appeared before the bench and argued that the suspect had allegedly misbehaved with policemen on duty and hence her bail plea should be denied.

He further claimed that a doctor at the Federal Government Hospital (Polyclinic) had told him that the suspect — who is a medical doctor — had allegedly attempted to cheat her medical exam by allegedly holding her breath during the tests. SHO Tanoli argued that the suspect was a doctor herself and knows well how to rig medical tests to conclude that the patient suffers from a heart problem.

The court then went into recess until 2pm with directions to the police to find a lawyer.

When the hearing resumed, the police lawyer urged the court to grant them a day’s time to prepare. The court granted the request and adjourned the hearing until Tuesday.

Meanwhile, following her medical exam, Dr Raza was moved from the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) to the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology (AFIC ) in Rawalpindi.

Her medical exam had been ordered by the court on Sunday after the suspect’s lawyer had contended that she suffered from a heart ailment and that whenever she is angry, she feels intense pressure and her brain does not function properly, causing her to lose her composure.

According to the police, Dr Raza was attempting to enter the secure Diplomatic Enclave on October 17 in a car which did not have any number plate displayed.

Police officers deputed at a picket at the Diplomatic Enclave Gate 1 motioned her car to stop and asked about the identity of the occupants. There was a young man driving the car who, ASI Farooq said, appeared to be about 18-years-old while the passenger was a woman who introduced herself as Dr Raza. She said that she was heading to the American Embassy.

At this, she was told that she cannot enter the enclave without a number plate apart from following other procedures.

“This information (car registration number and computerised identity card number) has to be provided to the police in advance and permission is granted by the concerned officers, only then a car is allowed to enter the diplomatic enclave,” the police officer said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2018.