Motorway hit-and-run drama ends in arrest

A local court sent a female car driver, who sped away after hitting a motorway police officer while issuing a fine ticket at the Motorway Toll Plaza Islamabad on January 1, to jail on a 14-day judicial remand on Thursday.

Earlier, the Rawalpindi police dramatically apprehended the suspect and seized her vehicle. The prompt police action came soon after the circulation of a viral video depicting the event on social media.

Civil Judge Dr Muhammad Mumtaz Hanjara rejected the request of the investigation team for a five-day physical remand of the arrested Farah Zahira of Gulberg and sent her to Adiala jail on judicial remand. The court declared that the physical remand of the woman could not be given based on the voice-matching test of the accused. However, the investigation officer could interrogate the suspect at the jail in the presence of a woman policeman and a senior jail official. In the case of the voice-matching test, the police would be bound to transport the woman outside the jail after sunrise and bring her back before sunset. 

The judge remarked that he was not only a police officer but the state in uniform. “The Chief Justice of Pakistan has also said that the uniformed officers standing on the road are the state. This cannot be allowed under any circumstances,” he further remarked. 

At the outset of the hearing, the judge inquired the accused about her education and profession. She said that she has a PhD in international relations. To which the judge said she could not be expected to behave like that.

Sub Inspector Muhammad Afzal took a stand that the incident took place on January 1 and the accused was arrested on April 24. The accused, Farah Zahira daughter of Muzaffar Hussain started arguing with the officials when she was stopped for overspeeding. She also could not produce driving license and registration documents for her vehicle. When the police were about to issue her a fine ticket, the suspect drove the car intending to murder uniformed policeman Muhammad Sabir. The police sought a five-day remand of the accused to recover driving licence and registration documents and the sound-matching test of the video that became viral on social media.

Read also: Woman involved in cop hit-and-run sent to jail on judicial remand

Advocate Shah Khawar, who represented the accused in the court, said that every uniformed person is respectable and the incident should not have happened. The police remained silent for 112 days but had to arrest the woman after the video of the incident went viral on social media, he added. The lawyer stated that the woman accused could not be physically remanded. “She is an educated woman and her action does not constitute murder. We are ready to be involved in the investigation.”

The lawyer pleaded for the judicial remand. After hearing cross-arguments, the judge rejected the police plea for physical remand and ordered her medical examination from the headquarters hospital and to produce her in court on May 9. The judge further ordered the Adiala Jail Superintendent to take steps for the investigation process and the investigation team to submit a challan after completing the inquiry.

Earlier the suspect was brought to the court from the police station under tight security. She was also declared healthy after a medical examination at the district headquarters hospital.

Soon after the incident, the woman changed her getup to avoid arrest and also changed her mobile phone number and phone set. According to the video footage, the woman driver is seen being stopped by motorway police officers for speeding and asked to present her documents and pay the fine. In response, the woman is initially polite, saying she doesn't have the money and then suddenly reacts aggressively, breaking through the barrier of the motorway toll plaza and severely injuring the standing motorway police officer by running him over, before fleeing the scene.

The Naseerabad police registered a case on the complaint of the motorway police for resistance and negligent driving. The motorway police, however, remained silent after the incident. When the video of the incident came to light, Rawalpindi SSP Operations Kamran Asghar took notice and formed a police team which tracked the woman through vehicle numbers and official data. The police team aided by the ladies' police spotted her car in the Islamabad club and later caught her when she left the club for Rawalpindi. The police later added the provisions of attempted murder and injury in the FIR.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2024.