Another police misconduct case reported in federal capital

Case registered against suspect’s brother for refusing to disclose details of his whereabouts

ISLAMABAD: Another case of police misconduct has been reported in the federal capital after a plaintiff claimed he was harassed as the police looked for his wanted brother.

Nadeem had been declared as an absconder by a court in a six-year-old bogus cheque case.

With the Aabpara police unable to trace him, they resorted to brining his brother in for questioning.

Aabpara police’s SI Tahir Khan Niazi allegedly called the absconder’s brother Muhammad Shabbir to the police station.

Shabbir claimed that the police officer allegedly threatened him with dire consequences if he did not provide information regarding his brother’s whereabouts.

Islamabad Police arrest around 1,000 murder suspects in past month

Shabbir, though, refused to do so. After a few days, Shabbir claimed that the Aabpara police allegedly broke into his house in Bhera Syedan, assaulted him and dragged him out of his house before hauling him to the police station.

The victim, though, refused to disclose Nadeem’s whereabouts which enraged the police official. SI Niazi then allegedly registered a case against the Shabbir for allegedly providing refuge to Nadeem.

The Express Tribune tried to contact the investigating officer but he could not be reached.

Snatchings and robberies

The residents of Sector G-6 of the federal capital on Tuesday demanded that strict police action be taken against mobile snatching and theft encounters in the area which have allegedly become rampant in the past few days.

Amjad Farooq, a resident of Sector G-6 said that is valuables were snatched from him when he was leaving the bank after completing a transaction in the Sector G-6 Markaz.

"I stopped my car at the traffic signal when an armed robber approached my car and opened the door without any fear and snatched my mobile phone, cash, credit cards and wallet at gunpoint," he stated. He claimed that he had lodged a complaint with the concerned police station but no action has been taken.

Another resident of Sector G-6/2, requesting anonymity for fear of retribution, said that he was robbed by an armed motorcyclist while going to the market.

Rising lawlessness: Islamabad police lists measures to control crimes

He said the robber snatched his wallet and mobile phone at gunpoint. The victim said he had complained to the Aabpara police station and that police officer had told him that they were still investigating the case but no arrests have been made as yet.

Aabpara police station SHO Ghulam Rasool told the media that the areas, where cases of snatching and robbery were most frequently reported, were Aabpara Market, Luqman Hakeem Road and Sector G-6/2 area where suspects would break into people’s homes and rob them of their valuables.

He said that as many four different cases of three different theft cases had been reported in just the past two days.

"An unnecessary hue and cry have been made in the public circles where only four incidents had occurred in the vicinity," he added.

To a question, he said the complaints have been lodged and policemen were being deployed in plain clothes to monitor the area along with enhanced patrolling especially in the evening.

"We are trying our level best and will soon arrest all the suspects involved in these cases," he stated confidently.

The main issue, SHO Rasool pointed out, was that there were narrow streets in Sector G-6/2 where it was difficult for the police to patrol.

Moreover, he added that the police was also trying to engage the youth of the vicinity to create awareness amongst them to stay away from criminal elements of the society and to report those involved in robbery and snatchings.

Crackdown

The Saddar police in Rawalpindi has arrested 281 Proclaimed Offenders (POs) as part of their ongoing operation against such elements.

Of those arrested 55 were involved in heinous crimes of category ‘A’ while 226 belonged to category ‘B’. According to a police spokesperson, Saddar police also registered 208 First Information Reports (FIRs) and arrested 209 suspects for possessing illegal weapons including 24 Kalashnikovs, 11 rifles, eight 12-bore rifles, 154 pistols and 2,397 rounds of ammunition.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2019.