One motorway gang rape accused surrenders to police

Denies involvement in case, says his SIM being used by his brother-in-law

LAHORE:

Motorway gang rape case took a turn on Sunday as one of the suspects pointed out by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar along with IG Police Inam Ghani, a day earlier, in a press conference, denied his involvement in the incident after appearing before the police.

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan confirmed that suspect Waqarul Hassan had surrendered before the police.

Reportedly, Hassan, an accomplice of prime accused Abid Ali had appeared before Anti-Organised Crime Cell (CIA) Model Town.

He denied any involvement in the case and maintained that his brother-in-law Abbas was using a SIM registered against his name.

“The number that came forth in geo-fencing is in his [brother-in-law’s] use,” Hassan said in his statement before the police.

The police then decided to conduct his DNA test for confirmation.

The provincial information minister also confirmed the suspect’s statement saying that Hassan had pointed towards Abbas and police were on to arrest him.

He said that over two dozen teams of police were searching for the accused in the case.

“This is due to their [police] hectic efforts that the accused were identified within 72 hours,” he said.

Chohan continued that Hassan had no other option than to appear before the police and noted that the suspects were alerted after the information about them had gone into the public domain.

He observed when the pictures of the accused were aired on media the government officials had to go for a press conference.

The provincial information minister recalled that the IG police in the meeting before the news conference had said that the suspects would be arrested within an hour and admitted of mismanagement when it came to press conferences.

Meanwhile, the criminal record of prime accused Abid Ali was brought to the fore on Sunday.

Several cases of theft, robbery, dacoity, murder and rape had been registered against him, and reportedly, his family members had also been involved in criminal activities.

The prime accused is also nominated in a first information report for a gang rape during dacoity.

On Saturday, IG Ghani had said that prime accused Ali and his wife after seeing the police had fled from the scene, however, the police had taken hold of their daughter.

On Sunday, the police had taken several other members of Ali’s family into custody but they were still clueless about his whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the crime scene on the motorway was declared clear after the evidences had been collected from there.

On Wednesday night, a woman had left from DHA to Gujranwala using the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway along with her three children.

As she reached near Carol Ghatti, Gujjarpura area on the motorway, her car ran out of petrol. She called her relatives and motorway police for help.

The relatives told her they were coming, while the motorway police said that the area where she was did not fall within their jurisdiction.

Around 2am, she was intercepted by two suspected robbers who smashed the windowpanes of her car and forced her into the nearby fields at gunpoint and sexually assaulted her in front of her children.

A case was registered and over two dozen police teams were deputed to trace and arrest the culprits.

Lahore CCPO Umer Sheikh on Thursday invited criticism when he said that the victim had failed to take due precautions before setting off for her journey.

According to the Lahore police chief’s logic, the woman could have avoided being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

He said she should have taken the more populated GT Road to Gujranwala instead of going via motorway, and that she should to have checked how much fuel her car had before setting off.