US embassy car driver gets bail

One car crash victim discharged as police await traffic sergeant’s report

ISLAMABAD: A day after a woman died when an SUV belonging to the US Embassy drove into a car on a main artery of the federal capital on Sunday, one of the victims was discharged on Monday. Meanwhile, a local court granted bail to the driver of the vehicle even as police wait on a witness report from the traffic sergeant.

On Sunday afternoon, a speeding Toyota Land Cruiser of the US Embassy hit the Suzuki Khyber car — with six occupants — from the side on Margalla Road near Faisal Avenue Chowk. The forceful impact killed a woman, Nadia, on the spot and injured the other five members of her family riding in the car.

The injured had been rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for treatment. Sources at Pims on Monday said that they had discharged two-year-old Sadia Minahil after she recovered completely.

However, the source said that four others remain under treatment there but are out of danger.

Driver gets bail

The Margalla police on Monday presented the driver of the vehicle, Amjad Zaman, before a judicial magistrate on Monday morning. The magistrate sent the driver to Adiyala jail on judicial remand.

The investigation officer (IO) in the case, Inspector Asif Khan, told The Express Tribune that Zaman had been sent to jail on judicial remand.

However, the same judge granted him bail as an application was filed. The defence counsel denied charges by the police that Zaman had jumped the red light which led to the fatal accident.

Margalla police station SHO Qaiser Niaz Gillani confirmed to The Express Tribune that Zaman had been granted bail by the judge.

No witness report

In another surprising development, the Islamabad Police have been left waiting for the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) sergeant assigned to the area where the incident took place to file his report, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Well-placed sources in the capital’s police force said that ITP’s on-duty officers usually write up their witness reports within hours of an accident and submit them to the relevant police station for further legal proceedings but the Margalla police are still waiting for the sergeant’s report in this case.

As a result, they said that the police could properly not prepare its charge-sheet against the suspect when they presented him before a judge Monday.

IO Asif confirmed that a charge-sheet against the suspect has not been prepared so far and explained that they could not do so because the on-duty sergeant has yet to send his report on the accident.

However, Asif assured that the charge-sheet will be submitted before the magistrate court as soon as they received it.

Responding to a question, Asif said that investigations cannot be labelled as complete without the traffic sergeant’s report as it was a road accident.

Asked on about the chances that the case could be dismissed, the IO said that the case was of an accident and that there was no deliberate attempt by the driver to cause the collision. Hence, he said that the case could be dismissed if both parties opt to reconcile with each other or reached an out-of-court- settlement.

The case against Zaman had been registered on a complaint filed by the victim’s son, Usama Ikhlaq at the Margalla police station.

Ikhlaq, a tailor by profession and who runs a shop in Sector E-11/3, said that his family lived in the Dhoke Kala Khan area of Rawalpindi but they originally hailed from Kohala in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). He added that his family, including his father Mohammad Ikhlaq, mother Nadia Bibi, cousin Shakeel Ahmed, his wife Nabeela Bibi and their two daughters were heading to their native town to participate in the funeral of a relative when the accident occurred.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2020.