Two accused in police robbery case declared innocent

Interim challan says DSP Bajari and seven others are involved

KARACHI:

Two accused, including SSP South Imran Qureshi, have been declared innocent in the interim challan of the case involving alleged robbery by police personnel in the house of a businessman in Orangi Town.

The investigating police submitted an interim challan against DSP Umair Tariq Bajari and other accused at the court.

According to the interim challan, no evidence could be found against SSP Imran Qureshi and Constable Azmat. As per the challan, SSP Imran Qureshi, Riaz Carpenter, Sawan, and Azmat have been named in Column No.2, while eight suspects, including DSP Umair Tariq Bajari, are involved in the incident.

It was found during the investigation that accused Mahfooz took Rs4 million from a party to get a plot in Gulshan-e-Iqbal vacated from illegal occupation. He gave the money to a third party through Abdul Sattar. However, neither the plot was vacated nor the money was given. The accused then planned that the plaintiff of the robbery case, Shakir and his family, have a huge amount of money as they are businesspeople. Money should be extorted through involvement of a government agency.

As per interim challan, former SSP South Imran Qureshi appeared before the JIT, as he was included in the investigation. In his statement to the JIT, Imran Qureshi said that on November 17, a federal agency in Islamabad shared information through the phone that a member of MQM London was residing in Orangi Town. The information suggested that weapons, documents, electrical items, and data on terror financing could be found.

SSP South Imran Qureshi called ASP Clifton to conduct a raid, but he informed that he had been transferred. After this, Umair Tariq Bajari, the under-training DSP, was directed to form a team for the raid operation. The investigating officer stated in the interim challan that the investigation revealed Umair Tariq’s team raided the house in Orangi Town, during which gold ornaments and more than Rs20 million in cash were robbed.

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The interim challan further stated that SSP South Imran Qureshi’s car was used by DSP Umair Tariq Bajari in the incident. Bajari had informed SSP South that the informer had released Shakir and his brother Amir after the raid. The plaintiff in the case identified three accused Izhar Ahmed, Syed Sohail, and Kamran Shahrukh before a magistrate. The police declared eight absconding suspects in the interim challan, including Muneeb, Ehsan, Naveed, Abdul Latif, Sajjad, Khurram Ali, Faizan, and Usman, while 35 witnesses have been included in the case, including civilians and police officers.

It should be clear that the defence counsel, Amir Mansoob, has argued that if such was a robbery incident, how could the plaintiff recover a large part of the money and other goods before filing the case.

The court also inquired from the investigating officer how such a huge amount was given to the plaintiff Shakir without any written agreement. On the next hearing, the concerned lawyers of the parties will present their stances on the interim challan.

Illegal Afghans

The Sindh High Court has ordered the incorporation of the records of Supreme Court proceedings into a petition challenging the deportation of illegal Afghan immigrants.

A two-member bench, headed by Justice Naimatullah Phulpoto, gave the orders on Tuesday while hearing arguments of Sara Malkani, the lawyer representing Afghan nationals, including petitioner Sheema Kirmani.

Malkani argued for the admissibility of the petition, mentioning that a similar petition on the eviction of Afghans was also filed in the Supreme Court, which has already issued notices. Justice Phalphoto questioned the SHC’s jurisdiction while the matter was under consideration by the Supreme Court.

The petitioner’s lawyer pointed out that the Sindh government was a party to the petition and requested the court to order the government to provide information about the deportation mechanism.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2023.