Man tricked into accepting ‘blood money’, then cheated out of it
Moves application with LHC for action against two journalists.
LAHORE:
A man has filed an application before Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed accusing two journalists of tricking him into signing a reconciliation deal with his father’s alleged killers and then cheating him out of the money he received from the accused.
Hussain Khan, 35, said in his one-page complaint that his father, a security guard, was run over by a car on December 12. He said the driver, Abdullah Khan, fled after hitting his father but was later arrested by traffic police and handed over to Manawan police.
Khan said that when he went to the police station, he learned that his father had died and he was pressured by friends and relatives of the accused not to take legal action. He said that one of the people at the scene was a journalist with a press card.
He said that the journalist later handed him Rs20,000 and told him he had managed to secure it from the accused for his father’s burial. He said the man, with police help, also got him to put his thumb print on a blank paper.
“After my father’s burial, I again went to the police station to pursue my case but was astonished to hear from the policemen that I had reconciled with the accused against Rs20,000,” he said. The policemen showed him a document stating that both parties had reconciled. He said he asked the police to take action but they said they could do nothing.
He said he then tried to contact the journalist from the police station, who had left him a business card with the address of his news agency and the contact information for a reporter named Faisal Raza Kazmi and the news agency’s bureau chief, Farhan Ahmed. He said they took Rs15,000 from him and assured him that the police case against the accused driver would move forward.
Khan said that three months later no action had been taken against the accused. He said the journalists were not answering his calls and when he visited their office at Yateem Khana Chowk they threatened him. He said he had filed applications against the journalists with the City Division SP and at Nawankot police station but the police had not made a single call to them.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Khan said the journalists had also extorted money from the driver of the car that killed his father. He said that the LHC was his final hope for the return of his money, which he needed badly.
Kazmi, contacted by The Express Tribune, said that he worked for a news agency, City Crime News International, and a daily newspaper and admitted getting Rs5,000 from Khan. He denied blackmailing the accused car driver or threatening Khan.
When informed about the application in the LHC, he said the money would be returned by March 22. He also asked this scribe to persuade Khan to withdraw his application.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.
A man has filed an application before Lahore High Court Chief Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed accusing two journalists of tricking him into signing a reconciliation deal with his father’s alleged killers and then cheating him out of the money he received from the accused.
Hussain Khan, 35, said in his one-page complaint that his father, a security guard, was run over by a car on December 12. He said the driver, Abdullah Khan, fled after hitting his father but was later arrested by traffic police and handed over to Manawan police.
Khan said that when he went to the police station, he learned that his father had died and he was pressured by friends and relatives of the accused not to take legal action. He said that one of the people at the scene was a journalist with a press card.
He said that the journalist later handed him Rs20,000 and told him he had managed to secure it from the accused for his father’s burial. He said the man, with police help, also got him to put his thumb print on a blank paper.
“After my father’s burial, I again went to the police station to pursue my case but was astonished to hear from the policemen that I had reconciled with the accused against Rs20,000,” he said. The policemen showed him a document stating that both parties had reconciled. He said he asked the police to take action but they said they could do nothing.
He said he then tried to contact the journalist from the police station, who had left him a business card with the address of his news agency and the contact information for a reporter named Faisal Raza Kazmi and the news agency’s bureau chief, Farhan Ahmed. He said they took Rs15,000 from him and assured him that the police case against the accused driver would move forward.
Khan said that three months later no action had been taken against the accused. He said the journalists were not answering his calls and when he visited their office at Yateem Khana Chowk they threatened him. He said he had filed applications against the journalists with the City Division SP and at Nawankot police station but the police had not made a single call to them.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Khan said the journalists had also extorted money from the driver of the car that killed his father. He said that the LHC was his final hope for the return of his money, which he needed badly.
Kazmi, contacted by The Express Tribune, said that he worked for a news agency, City Crime News International, and a daily newspaper and admitted getting Rs5,000 from Khan. He denied blackmailing the accused car driver or threatening Khan.
When informed about the application in the LHC, he said the money would be returned by March 22. He also asked this scribe to persuade Khan to withdraw his application.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.