Incomplete probes haunt Pindi police
The investigation system of the Rawalpindi police faced severe setbacks during the outgoing year which rendered it ineffective and favouring the criminal suspects.
Despite a total of 51,824 cases registered across 30 police stations from January 1 to December 15, a staggering 38,904 cases saw incomplete challans, allowing criminals involved in serious offences like robbery, car theft, snatching, kidnapping, and rape to escape after securing bail.
According to sources, the police investigation teams and expert joint investigation teams of 30 police stations of the Rawalpindi District completely failed to produce complete challans of serious cases in courts as per law.
The Women Police Station, however, demonstrated commendable investigative prowess, outshining their male counterparts by timely presenting complete challans in court.
According to the law, the police are constitutionally bound to submit the challan within 14 days, but the investigating officers of the police deliberately delay the completion of the challan. Completed challans are stopped on technical grounds by telling officers to present incomplete challans. The accused in serious cases take advantage of this and disappear after getting bail.
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According to court records, the police of 30 police stations of the Rawalpindi district registered a total of 46,324 cases from January 1 to November 30 and issued challans for only 12,920 cases, police could not trace the accused in 3,308 registered cases and 2,849 cases were cancelled.
In these cases registered from January 1 to November 30, the police failed to produce challans in 30,140 cases, including serious offences such as kidnapping, gang rape, forced rape, robbery, car theft, murder and child abuse etc.
The forensic test system has also faltered, with reports taking two to four months to arrive.
The New Town police station reported the highest number of cases at 4,667, presenting only 649 challans. Other police stations, including Sadiqabad, Naseerabad, Waris Khan, and Civil Line, exhibited a stark contrast between registered cases and challans presented. The performance of the SSP investigation has declined, with no discernible action against officers failing to submit timely challans in serious cases.
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According to the investigation officers, the investigation performance of the police has deteriorated in the last eight months since the May 9 tragedy happened. They said the majority of the police force has been dedicated to informing, arresting and apprehending only one political party's workers which has paralysed their traditional legal work in eight months. Lack of resources, including petrol for raids and stationery for investigations, further hampers their efforts.
Punjab Bar Council member Asad Abbasi Advocate suggests extending the challan deadline to 30 days and streamlining witness lists.
“Instead of having a long list of witnesses, each case should have 4 to 8 witnesses. Informal witnesses should be eliminated, only one doctor, one police officer investigating, one promissory note writer and two eyewitnesses should be kept in each case,” he said.
District Bar Association President Faisal Khan Niazi calls for the activation of forensic labs in every division, increased funds for investigation officers, and a more focused approach to nominating the accused.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2024.