Police raid student’s house over theft allegations in Rawalpindi

Teenager’s father says cops raided his house without warrant

RAWALPINDI:

Policemen from Morgah police station, along with six civilians, including two girls, allegedly barged into the house of a second-year female student to trace stolen mobile phones on Tuesday.

They searched the entire house and despite finding no evidence, the policemen interrogated the student, whose exams were ongoing, and issued threats of police station interrogation if the alleged stolen phones were not provided to them.

After the incident, the student and her father approached Rawalpindi's Chief Police Officer, Khalid Hamdani, citing privacy violations and mental anguish caused by baseless accusations. They have also appealed to Punjab Chief Minister, Maryam Nawaz, to look into the matter.

According to Malik Khalid Jameel Awan, a resident of Morgah, in his complaint to CPO Rawalpindi, police officers led by SI Farhan forcibly entered his home, joined by four uniformed policemen and two civilians. The unauthorised search was conducted without a warrant or female police presence.

CPO Rawalpindi Khalid Hamdani had appointed SP Pothohar Division Nasir Nawaz to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

After inquiry, SHO Morgah clarified that he was not present during the incident. He explained that the police had acted on mobile phone location data, and urged the family to await post-exam proceedings.

The Express Tribune contacted Muhammad Jameel Awan, who emphasised that neither he nor his daughter were involved in the alleged theft.

Awan, in his application, stated that policemen did not bring any lady constable with them to search the house and entered the house without a warrant which is an illegal act.

Awan shared that her daughter is a second-year student at a private college near Morgah Morr where *F Anwar and *M Khalid also studied but their examination centres were different.

According to the police and the college administration, the mobile phones of the said girls were stolen from the examination hall. “My daughter has nothing to do with the stolen mobile phones,” he said.

CPO Rawalpindi Khalid Hamdani appointed SP Pothohar Division Nasir Nawaz as inquiry officer and asked for a report. Sources said that the SHO and SI of Morgah police station went to the student's house the other day and called her father to the police station kept him there for hours and told him to ask his daughter to return the mobile phones.

SHO Morgah said that after the examinations are over, the student and her father should visit the police station and talk to the plaintiff.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2024.