Two cops sacked for selling impounded bikes

Inquiry report reveals the duo illegally sold 28 bikes in market

ISLAMABAD:

Police authorities have dismissed two constables from service after charges of stealing 28 motorcycles from inside the police station and selling them in the market proved against them.

An inquiry report revealed that malkhana Moharrar Haq Nawaz and computer operator Constable Maqbool Shah of Tarnol police station had formed their gang. Their modus operandi was that during police patrolling, the motorcycles, whose registration papers were not available to the motorcyclists at the time of police checking were sent to the Tarnol police station, for confiscation.

The accused, instead of locking them in the police and mentioning in the case property records, used to park them in the police station premises separately from the locked vehicles and other motorcycles.

After getting an opportunity, the suspects would take these motorcycles out of the police station and sell them in the market. They used to target motorcycles in good condition or applied-for-number so that they could earn more money by selling them. The officials had been continuing to carry out illegal business for the last three years.

The suspects' illegal activity came to light when the original owners of the motorcycles reached the Tarnol police station and submitted original documents to the police station for taking possession.

After receiving several applications, the current SHO, Shabeer Tanoli checked the records of the police station to find 28 motorcycles, which were actually brought to the police station for impounding purposes but were not mentioned in the official records and rather sold in the market. The SHO wrote a letter to his high-ups about the matter.

The DIG Operations assigned an investigation to the SSP Operations in which the above-mentioned revelations were made. After the completion of the inquiry report, Haq Nawaz and Maqbool Shah were immediately dismissed from their service.

When contacted, a senior police officer, seeking anonymity, said that no case had been registered against the accused because 28 motorcycles had not been deposited in the records of the police station.

He, however, added that if the owners of missing motorcycles submitted written complaints, the cases of all the owners, not just one, would be registered. The officer further said that the two officials had been given the biggest punishment.