Pindi cops booked for attacking citizen in capital

Woman under treatment for consuming acid dies in Pindi hospital

RAWALPINDI/ ISLAMABAD: Police in the federal capital have registered a case and arrested two fellow cops from the garrison city for crossing district lines and opening fire on two men on the streets of the city.

Armed officers from the Rawat police station in Rawalpindi riding in four police vehicles had attempted to intercept the vehicle of 30-year-old Usman Ali Shah and his elder brother Zulfiqar Ali Shah in Sector G-8 Markaz as they were returning from their office near the Ghazi-Barotha Dam on Tuesday evening.

The cops allegedly fired on Usman’s car. The businessman was shot twice and fell unconscious.

The incident caused panic in Sector G-8 Markaz.

had allegedly opened fire at the owner of a construction company in Sector G-8 Markaz of Islamabad on Tuesday evening.

Upon learning of the incident, an ASP of Karachi Company Police rushed to the scene. Initial investigations disclosed that officers from the Rawat police station were trying to catch a suspected robber Kamran.

However, they misidentified Usman and attempted to catch him. Moreover, they did not inform the Karachi Company police station about their actions.

On learning this, the SDPO of Karachi Company directed to detain the Rawalpindi police officers involved in the incident, including SHO Habibur Rehman Dar and the three officials from his team who had fled.

Later, a senior police official confirmed that Islamabad Police Inspector General Amir Zulfiqar Khan directed to register a case against the officers.

Directions were also issued to obtain a medical certificate for the injuries sustained by Usman.

The FIR was registered on Wednesday based on the victim’s statement.

Usman maintained in his statement that officers of the Punjab police had shot at him using a Kalashnikov automatic rifle from their vehicle in Sector G-8 Markaz. Moreover, the Rawalpindi police officers have been booked under Sector 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for attempted murder.

According to sources, the Karachi Company Police have arrested the two officials who had shot at Usman.

The Rawat Police team was caught by some market traders after the incident who roughed up the police officials, including the SHO, after which Karachi Company Police reached the scene and took the team into custody.

The market traders later continued with the protest by blocking the road and burning tires.

Woman dies of acid attack

A 20-year-old mother of one succumbed to acid burn injuries on Wednesday, 24 days after she was brought for treatment. Before dying, the victim had recorded a video in which she had held her husband responsible for her condition.

While police say they are investigating the matter, the victim’s family claim that the police refused to entertain their application against the suspect.

On April 6, 20-year-old Sania was brought to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) with complaints of having consumed acid.

During treatment, Sania recorded a video wherein she stated that her husband used to ask her for money and had threatened to user their four-month-old daughter as collateral to secure a million rupees. However, she had resisted her husband.

She was finally brought to the DHQ on April 6 for acid burn treatments. She succumbed to her injuries during treatment on Wednesday.

Sania’s mother claimed that her son-in-law Rafaqat would frequently demand money from her daughter and when she would refuse, he would beat her. She echoed Sania’s claim that Rafaqat had threatened to use her granddaughter as collateral for money and that he also used to instigate Sania to enter the world’s oldest profession for money.

She added that after Sania had to be rushed to the hospital, they had submitted an application to the police against Rafaqat, but the police failed to take any action.

A police spokesperson, when asked about the allegations that a complaint was not entertained, stated that the incident took place on April 6.

The official added that an application regarding the attack was not submitted before the relevant police station within whose jurisdiction the crime took place — Ratta Amral. Family of the victim took the body from the hospital without informing the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2019.