Pregnant woman, husband gunned down in Mirabad

Police officers suspended for demanding bribe from citizens at check-post

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: A young woman, who had married of her own choice three-months ago, was allegedly killed by her brothers in Mirabad on Monday in a suspected case of honour killing.

According to the Ramna police, 24-year-old Raheela had married Zahoor Khan three months ago. They left their native Peshawar and settled in a rented home in the Mirabad locality in Sector G-12 of the federal capital.

Officers said that on Monday, three brothers of Raheela, identified as Sher Rehman, Khan Rehman and Riaz, allegedly stormed into their sister’s home on Monday.

The three men sprayed Raheela and her husband with bullets and fled.

When police officers arrived on the scene, they found Raheela lying in a pool of her blood while Zahoor was critically injured.

Both were shifted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for treatment where Zahoor remains in treatment.

A post-mortem on Raheela disclosed that she was three months pregnant.

Police have registered a case against the suspects and have formed a special team to arrest them.

Police staff suspended

After a video about police officers openly taking bribes went viral, officers deployed at a police check-post near the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) and the motorway, have been suspended.

In the video, police officers could be heard demanding bribes of Rs100 to Rs200 from a citizen at the police check-post within the remits of the of Naseerabad police.

The video also noted the presence of a Chinese national.

However, Rawalpindi Operations SSP suspended police officer Faisal Hanif, check-post in-charge Ahmed Ali, Constable Zafar and the entire staff deployed at the check-post.

He further directed the Potohar SP to launch an inquiry against the officers.

Operations SSP Abdul Qadir Qamar told Daily Express that the staff was suspended for taking bribes. He added that no leniency would be shown to such officers.

Islamabad GTA

Even though Rawal Town is situated at a 15-minutes-drive from the Prime Minister House in the Red Zone, the locality has become a hub for car robberies.

Even though a number of incidents of car theft have been reported, citizens feel as if they are on their own. As a result, residents feel compelled to hire private security guards and place barriers at the entrance and exit points.

Even though a large number of car theft cases have been reported in the area for the last few months, no suspect has been arrested as yet nor has any stolen car been recovered even though residents have duly filed complaints at the Shehzad Town police station.

Apart from four cars stolen earlier in the month, two more had been stolen even after a letter was written to the Islamabad Police’s Operations SSP.

Residents have now raised funds and hired private security guards to protect their vehicles. These guards patrol during the night while pickets and barriers have also been installed at the entry and exit points.

Union Council Chairman Zaheer Ahmed Shah complained that the police have yet to take measures to prevent car theft in the locality despite the fact that multiple complaints have been lodged with them.

Recently, around eight cars have been stolen from this small town. It seemed that the police was unable to control the situation, he stated.

Operations SSP Syed Waqaruddin stated that he was aware of the situation and that they were working on curtailing incidents of car theft.

However, he complained of insufficient staff which could effectively patrol the area.

To resolve tahis, he said that they had recently assigned 10 additional personnel to the precinct to enhance patrolling and to catch the culprits.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2019.