'Boss' held in foreigners' rape case, LHC told
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday disposed of a petition seeking recovery of Waheed Tahir alias "boss", a suspect allegedly identified as the mastermind in the kidnapping and rape case involving two foreign women, after police informed a bench that he had been arrested and remanded by a magisterial court.
Justice Abhar Gul heard the petition filed by the suspect's mother, Mumtaz Bibi, who contended that police had taken him into custody in connection with the case but failed to produce him before a competent court within the mandated 24 hours.
In response to this petition, the police submitted a report before the court contending that the man had been arrested in the case, produced before a judicial magistrate and placed in five-day physical remand for investigation.
The petitioner had contended that the continued detention of her son was illegal and requested the court to order his release from unlawful custody.
A state counsel submitted the police report during the hearing.
After placing the police report on record, the high court declared the petition infructuous and disposed of the matter.
Meanwhile, the magisterial court issued an order handing over the suspect to police on a five-day physical remand in a case involving the alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign women.
A duty judicial magistrate had approved the remand until July 24 on Sunday and, in a written order, also noted that the suspect had been produced before the court in an ambulance.
According to the investigating officer, the suspect had been arrested a day earlier in connection with the case.
The official informed the court that the suspect's custody had been required to recover the weapon allegedly used in the offence, ransom money, jewellery and a laptop.
The police stated that Tahir had been nominated in the case through a supplementary statement recorded during the investigation.
Accepting the prosecution's request, the magistrate remanded the suspect in police custody for interrogation until July 24.
The case was registered at the Defence-C police station.
The police had earlier arrested seven other suspects in the case.
Four of them were placed in physical remand thrice and then sent in judicial remand.
A magisterial court on Monday sent three suspects in 14-day judicial remand.
Defence-C police produced them before the court on the expiry of their physical remand.
The investigation officer asked the court to remand the suspects in judicial custody.
The magistrate accepted the request with directions to the police to submit their investigation report by the next hearing.