Two-year-old declared fugitive in fraud case

In a glaring example of incompetence, a two-year-old was declared a fugitive in a case pertaining to fraudulently withdrawing money from accounts of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries.

The child, accompanied by his father, on Monday appeared for bail before the judicial magistrate (West) at the City Court. The two-year old couldn't hold back tears in the courtroom.

The judicial magistrate ordered the investigation officer (IO) to appear at the next hearing.

Police said that the Jackson police had arrested Sheheryar on suspicion of fraudulently withdrawing money from BISP beneficiaries' accounts. They said he had use forged thumbprints to withdraw the money.

Defence counsel Liaquat Gabol said that accused Shehriyar was related to the two-year-old. During the investigation, the accused told the IO the names of his family members, on which, the police mentioned the names all the family members including the minor boy in the case. The police also declared the two-year-old child as a fugitive accused in the remand report. "The police are conducting raids on my client's house to arrest the child," he said.

The case states that two minors withdrew money from BISP accounts through forged prints. The IO, by showing the limits of incompetence has also named a two-year-old child in the case, Advocate Gabol told the court.

He submitted a bail plea while calling for action against the officer concerned.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2023.