Lahore court grants five-day physical remand of three more suspects in foreign women abduction case

Court grants SHO interim bail over threatening the magistrate

LAHORE:

A magisterial court on Monday remanded three more suspects in police custody for five days in a case involving the alleged abduction and rape of two foreign women.

Police on Thursday rescued two foreign women within hours of receiving an emergency complaint, arrested four suspects, and launched an investigation into allegations of kidnapping, ransom demands, and sexual assault. Those produced today were the second group of suspects presented before the court in the case. On July 3, Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood in Lahore had granted police a five-day physical remand of four previously arrested suspects, identified as Raza Dar, Hassan Raza, Sajid Ali, and Sikandar Khan.

During the hearing of the case, police produced the three accused — Rizwan, Nawaz, and Nasir — before the court and sought their physical remand for further investigation. After hearing the matter, Judge Abdul Qadoos granted the request and remanded all three suspects into police custody for five days.

Police informed the court that a criminal case had already been registered against the accused persons and that their custody was required to complete the investigation.

Separately, an additional district and sessions court granted interim pre-arrest bail to Defence-C Station House Officer (SHO) Faryad Ali until July 10 in a case for allegedly threatening a judicial magistrate during proceedings.

After hearing preliminary arguments, the court restrained the police from arresting the SHO until the next hearing. The court also issued a notice to the Mustafa Abad police, seeking its response, and directed the accused to join the investigation by appearing before the investigating officer.

According to the prosecution, the case against SHO Faryad Ali was registered on allegations that he visited the residence of a judicial magistrate and allegedly threatened him during the process of the high-profile case involving the alleged abduction and rape of two foreign women.

An FIR was subsequently lodged at the Mustafa Abad police station over the alleged intimidation of the judicial magistrate.

While granting interim relief, the court made it clear that the accused must cooperate with the investigation in accordance with the law.

Read: Lahore DIG says 'minister-linked suspect' treated like any other criminal in foreign women case

One of the suspects is related to an influential political figure, but Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran, on Sunday, in a media briefing, assured that the suspect, reportedly linked to a senior government minister, will not be treated differently from any other criminal in the investigation

The case

According to the Lahore DIG, the two foreign women arrived in Islamabad on June 26 before travelling to Lahore on June 29.

On Sunday, he said that at around midnight on July 1, the Safe City Authority received information from a man identified as Carlos, who reported that his daughter had been abducted in Pakistan and that he had received a ransom demand.

"Police subsequently launched an investigation using the relevant phone numbers, the vehicle's registration details, travel records, and footage from safe city cameras, while conducting raids in Shahdara, Defence, Sargodha, and other areas. The recovery of the women was our top priority," he said.

Kamran said investigators traced the family tree of a suspect and carried out raids at various locations. "During one such raid, residents of a house informed police that the suspect's family had previously lived there as tenants and was believed to have links with the deputy prime minister. The suspect was later identified as Mohammad Raza Dar," he added.

He said police verified the information with the suspect's family, obtained his phone number, and began tracing his location.

Read More: 4 arrested for sexual assault of foreign women

"The family would certainly have asked the suspect to surrender," he said.

The DIG said senior police officials and the government had been informed after investigators discovered the suspect's alleged links to a senior political figure. "We received strict instructions from the government that he should not be treated any differently from any other criminal," he said.

He added that investigators were also examining the possibility that a gang, rather than a single individual, was involved in the incident.

According to the DIG, the suspect was driving the two women to the airport when an altercation broke out inside the vehicle near Bhatta Chowk.

"During the scuffle, the vehicle collided with an object, after which the women jumped out and sought refuge at a nearby filtration plant, from where police recovered them safely," he added.

Kamran said judicial magistrates' orders were required before the women's medical examination could be conducted.

"As the magistrate was not on duty and the women were scheduled to leave Pakistan the following morning, a station house officer was sent to the magistrate's residence late at night to obtain the necessary orders. I apologise for that," he said.

Also Read: Locals nab foreigners trying to kidnap nomadic girls

The DIG said police contacted the embassies of Spain and the Netherlands after recovering the women. The Spanish embassy informed investigators that one of the women was a Venezuelan national.

Following consultations with the embassies, the women agreed to undergo medical examinations and later consented to recording their statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Kamran said the embassies had also requested that the women be repatriated at the earliest, adding that police were continuing to investigate all aspects of the case.