How one alleged kidnapper was able to walk free due to ‘defective investigation’

In a first, ATC show-cause notice and summons IO to explain discrepancies in the investigation

KARACHI: In a first, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi has issued show-cause notice to an investigation officer (IO) for showing negligence in the investigation of a kidnapping case, due to which the main accused was acquitted on February 2, earlier this month.

The notice was issued by the judge of ATC-XVI to IO Muhammad Ismail of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) for giving benefit to the accused through his negligence.

The police department has time and again been accused of lax investigations, causing the prosecution of even high-profile criminal cases to collapse, thereby allowing the accused to be let off from courts in the absence of concrete evidence against them.

The case

On February 7, the ATC had announced its verdict in the kidnapping case of seven-year-old Tufail Abdur Rehman, whereby it had acquitted the accused, Pervez Ali alias Paro and Abdul Shakoor for want of evidence.

Days after the case was concluded at the Anti-Terrorism Complex inside the Karachi Central Jail, the judge of the ATC-XVI issued a show-cause notice to the IO under Section 27 of the Anti-Terrorism Act. If found guilty of negligence during the course of the investigation, the IO could be sentenced to prison for up to two years.

"Whereas the subject cases were entrusted to you for investigation which need not to mention that is very important component of criminal justice system with the latter much dependent on the former," reads the show-cause notice dated February 6.

"Perusal of the record of the case suggest that you have failed to carry out the investigation in above case properly or diligently…. in breach of your duties for which you are liable for action under Section 27 of ATA-1997."

Lapses in investigation

In his show-cause notice, the judge has pointed to several glaring discrepancies in the investigation. "The unwitnessed incident of abduction needed corroboration from different sources to connect the accused with the crime but you failed to collect corroboratory evidence," reads the notice.



Perhaps the most vital among the evidences was the call records data (CDR) of Muhammad Aslam, the father of the kidnapped child, who had allegedly received calls demanding ransom from the accused over two weeks. The call records could have been used to establish the link between the accused and the victim's father. "… but you failed to collect CDR of Muhammad Aslam," states the notice.

A second vital link was that of Nisar Ahmed, an employee of Muhammad Alsam, who according to the IO's report, had been tasked to hand over the ransom amount to the accused. The IO again did not collect the call record data of Ahmed, who was also one of the prosecution's witnesses in the case.

Meanwhile, the court noted that the call record data of the accused, Pervaiz, showed that he had been in touch with Muhammad Aslam since the kidnapping on December 29, 2017, until his arrest on January 20, 2018. The CDR of one cell number being tracked by the police showed that the accused was in Ghotki and Sukkur for the duration of the kidnapping. "… but you did not bother on a single day for arrest of accused in meanwhile nor did you attempt to leave for district Ghotki and Sukkur for arrest of accused which has also adversely affected the case of prosecution."

The court also questioned why the registered owners of the two SIMs, which were used by the alleged kidnappers according to the IO, were not questioned or even contacted. The IO also did not send the mobile phones recovered from the alleged kidnappers at the time of arrest for forensic analysis.

Moreover, the victim had stated in his deposition that he had returned to Karachi with his father and police personnel via train, "… which fact suggests that he was if at all abducted, not recovered from Karachi; it shows that you have falsely shown the place of arrest and recovery," reads the notice.

The IO had submitted that the child was recovered from a house at Bandani Goth near the Sindh Government School, Hawkes Bay Road in Karachi. The court, at the same time, also questioned why there was no evidence of any entry in Hawkes Bay Police Station, from whose jurisdiction the child was claimed to have been recovered. The IO also did not bother to check the identity of the house's owner.

Court's direction

The court has therefore directed the IO to submit his response to the questions by today (February 28) and also personally appear before the judge. The IO's response will have to satisfy the court that it wasn't the defective investigation that resulted in the acquittal. 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2019.