Rs1m reward offered in Farishta rape, murder case

Officials say they are employing advanced investigation techniques to trace the suspects

ISLAMABAD: Even though the police have yet to definitively trace the culprits involved in the brutal rape and then the murder of the 10-year-old Farishta in the federal capital, a cash reward of as much as Rs1 million has been offered to those who can offer information which positively identifies the culprits.

This was announced by SP Dr Mustafa Tanveer of the Islamabad Police on Sunday.

Dr Tanveer, who heads one of the two investigation teams formed to probe the matter, has urged citizens to come forward and provide information regarding the suspects.

He further promised that the name of the informant will not be made public.

Those who wish to share any tip-off can call Islamabad Police Operations Deputy Inspector General of Police Waqaruddin Syed (0300-5000577) or Islamabad Police Investigations Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Mustafa Tanveer (0308-5555669).

Meanwhile, days after her body was recovered dumped in a forest in the suburbs of the federal capital in Chak Shehzad, the police say they have investigated some 250 suspects over the past seven days but have yet to get any fruitful results.

Sources say police officials were now using advanced geo-tracking technology to draw up a list of people who were in the vicinity of the victim’s home during the period when the incident is believed to have occurred. The site from where her body was recovered is also being examined for digital footprints of the suspects.

Further, officials said that they were in the process of scrutinizing data from some 1.5 million calls made within or from the targeted area.

The sources further disclosed that heads of both the investigation teams have vowed that culprits will be brought to justice.

Another police team, which is headed by a former official of the federal police, Inspector Malik Naeem Iqbal, who has been promoted to the post of SP and has a wide experience in investigations, has thus far been unable to find any clues to the suspects.

Meanwhile, officials are still waiting on reports of the DNA samples they had obtained from some detained suspects and others from the victim’s neighbourhood and then matching them from the samples obtained from the victim.

Moreover, the source said that the federal police officials are conducting further tests and probes on suspects from Farishta’s neighbourhood as advised by the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory — which is testing other samples from the case as well.

A senior official of the federal police told The Express Tribune that they hope to trace the actual suspects soon and arrest them.

He added all investigations in the case was being carried out using modern methods and assured that the suspects would not be able to escape from the grip of law.

The award has been announced days after PM Imran Khan took notice of the brutal incident and the role of police in delaying registration of the FIR.

On Friday, the medico-legal officer (MLO) of Polyclinic Hospital was transferred for delaying the autopsy of the 10-year old rape victim. Dr Abid Shah, who was accused of negligence and delay in the post-mortem of the minor victim, has been replaced by Dr Imtiaz Ahmed who has been transferred from Police line Dispensary Islamabad to Polyclinic as new MLO.

The hospital sources revealed that the victim’s family had complained about the behaviour of the hospital administration. When the hospital’s administration investigated the matter, it was disclosed that the post-mortem was delayed because MLO was absent from duty.

Meanwhile, the Shehzad Town SHO and the investigation officer, who had been arrested for their negligence in the Farishta assault and murder case, were granted bail by the court.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the sacked SHO Abbas had already acquired bail against a surety of Rs50,000 from Additional District and Sessions Court Judge Zaiba Chaudhry on May 22. However, he did not deposit the surety amount until Thursday.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2019.