Constable accused of murder arrested
PHOTO: File
Ghalla Mandi Police on Wednesday night arrested the constable who had been accused of killing a motorcyclist allegedly over an altercation.
A case was registered against the accused, Bilal alias Bali, under Section 302 of the PPC on the complaint of the victim's father.
According to police report, Akhter Gujjar had been on his way to do some shopping for his brother’s upcoming wedding when his motorcycle accidentally collided with that of the policeman’s at the Pakpattan Chowk.
After an exchange of harsh words, Constable Bilal allegedly started beating up Akhter Gujjar and fired four bullet shots at him. Akhter Gujjar died on the spot.
After the incident, relatives of Gujjar protested at the Pakpattan Chowk and burnt tyres on the Lahore-Multan bypass.
Due to their protest, traffic on the bypass remained blocked for two hours, and a long pile of stranded vehicles was witnessed.
DPO Sadiq Baloch reached the site and assured the protestors that the police would arrest the accused at the earliest.
After the assurance from the DPO, the protesters called off their protest and allowed police to shift the body of Akhter Gujjar to the DHQ Teaching Hospital for postmortem.
According to DSP Maher Yousuf, two teams had been formed for the arrest of the accused.
With the help of the CCTV footage and identification by the eyewitnesses, the accused was arrested.
Meanwhile, Akhtar was laid to rest on Thursday.
Last year in August, three people, including two police officials, were booked for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a man in Dijkot.
The suspects allegedly took the victim to a police station at the behest of his opponents and demanded a ransom of Rs1.5 million.
According to the police, Muhammad Nadeem Minhas had filed a case in this regard, stating that, “When I went out after Isha prayers in Kachehri Bazaar, two policemen conspired with Amjad Gujjar and kidnapped me at gunpoint, tortured me and demanded Rs1.5 million in extortion.”
The victim also alleged that he was taken to the police station and locked up.
Reportedly, the suspects recorded a video of the victim to get a statement in accordance with their desire and forced him to sign and apply thumbprint on a blank paper.
They allegedly took Rs42,000 out of his pocket, withdrew another Rs40,000 through his ATM cards and forced him to sign blank cheques, the complainant alleged.
Kotwali police registered a case under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), including 365 (Kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine a person) and 384 (Punishment for extortion).
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2022.