13 rogue cops booked for kidnapping, looting citizens

Five people were kept in illegal confinement, tortured, released on payment of Rs0.35m

RAWALPINDI: A sub-inspector has been arrested and 12 policemen are on the run in a case of kidnapping for ransom filed by victims.

City police officer has suspended the 13 policemen following an inquiry against them for kidnapping, torturing and extorting cash and valuables from citizens.

CPO Faisal Rana on completion of inquiry by SP Potohar and DSP Cantt ordered their arrests in kidnaping for ransom case, a crime punishable by death penalty.

A sub-inspector nominated in the case has already been arrested while police are conducting raids to catch the rest of the policemen named in the report filed at Westridge police station.

Muhammad Imran, a resident of Lahore, said in the complaint that he, his maternal uncle, Muhammad Arif, and his friends Mohsin Ali, Malik Asif and Abbas were going back to Lahore from Rawalpindi when they were kidnapped by the rogue cops.

Imran said 13 policemen on a car and four motorcycles intercepted them near Chauhar Chowk. The policemen holding the citizen hostage at gunpoint forced them down from the car, blindfolded them and searched their vehicle.

When nothing illegal was found, police took them to Sadiqabad police station where Sub-inspector Sikandar and ASI Mohsin Shah were already present. After around 45 minutes, the victims were blindfolded again and taken to a private place where they were tortured.

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Police kept the victims standing throughout the night and hit them on head ten shoes after every hour.

Imran said, whenever they would ask what their crime was, the policemen would say you were caught carrying drugs and weapons. “When we argued, the cops threatened to fix us in cases that it will take years to prove our innocence and will rot in jail for the rest of our lives,” he said.

However, after sometime, the captives offered to release them against Rs3 million which the complainant refused. After negotiations, the deal was settled for half a million rupees.

The cops released Arif after taking Rs200,000 from him. Arif then arranged Rs150,000 more after which the remaining captives were also released on assurance that the rest of the amount would be paid within 24 hours.

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Later, the incident was brought in the knowledge of the City Police Officer (CPO) Faisal Rana, who ordered SP Potohar and DSP Cantonment to probe into the matter. After initial investigation, all policemen were suspended while the sub-inspector was arrested.

The CPO said that raids were being conducted to arrest remaining suspects. He said that the policemen would be given a harsh punishment if they were found guilty of charges.

Further, the SP Potohar Syed Ali said that there was no place for corrupt officials in Rawalpindi police. He said that a case under sections of kidnapping for ransom was registered against the policemen.

In this regard, Imran said that they were humiliated for two days. He said that while torturing the policemen kept telling each other to make sure that no marks of bruises appear on the victims’ bodies.

Imran appealed to PM Imran Khan, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, and CPO Faisal Rana to recover all of their belongings including their mobile phones from the suspects. 

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2019.