Teenager’s mother demands action over ‘fake drugs case’

Alleges ex-SHO, five cops stormed her house and took away her ‘son’, Rs1.3m in cash, bike

KARACHI:

The mother of a teenage boy, who was booked on charges of drug peddling last month, has lodged a complaint at the Surjani Town Police Station against a former SHO and his team for detaining her son in a fake case and stealing Rs1.3 million cash and a motorcycle.

The complainant, Sonia, wife of Afzal Khan, has accused former Gabol Town SHO Roshan Karara of barging into her house, along with five other policemen, on August 17, when her husband was away. The armed cops searched the house and stole Rs1.3m in cash, said the complainant.

The policemen misbehaved with her and her daughters and took her 15-year-old son, Bilal, and a motorcycle as they left, added Sonia, a resident of Lyari Taiser Town, Surjani. According to Sonia, she approached the police and alerted them of the incident.

The next day, Gabol Town Police called her to inform her that Bilal was in their custody and an FIR had been lodged against him. The complainant said that when the family reached the police station, however, they were not allowed to meet Bilal. Neither were the money and the motorcycle returned, nor did Roshan Karara meet them, she added.

Bilal was released later after the family acquired bail from the court, said the complainant, adding that she kept visiting the police station but was threatened with dire consequences and returned empty-handed each time. Karara and his team do not want to return the stolen cash and motorcycle, said the complainant, maintaining that the accused cops would be responsible if anything were to happen to her family. The former SHO has denied the allegations levelled against him.

He claims Bilal was arrested in a raid in Godhra Chowk area and a case was lodged against him under the narcotics act. Karara maintains he was cleared when an inquiry was conducted over the incident. The complainant, on the other hand, maintains the raid and the arrest were declared fake during the inquiry. But no action was taken against Karara and his team and the looted valuables were not returned either, she claims.