Party pooper: Police turn spoilsport for ‘partying kidnappers’

KARACHI:

Due to conflicting police accounts, confusion surrounds the arrest of five men detained from DHA’s Khayaban-e-Rahat early Sunday morning. Did the Darakshan police arrest some kidnappers? Or were the men having a good time?

It is also uncertain whether SHO Shafiq Tanoli, the officer who conducted the raid, was suspended before or after the incident.

SP Clifton Dr Farrukh said that the five men partying on Saturday night got irked by the early departure of a dancer from an event and forcefully detained two men, Mulazim and Ajmal, who had come with her. However, the girl went to the police, who then rescued the two detained men and also arrested a lawyer, Moiz Ahmed, and four others named Moazzam, Parvez, Shahid and Faqeer. A case was filed against the suspects for illegal confinement.

The suspended SHO, meanwhile, gave an entirely different account. He claimed that the men belonged to a gang involved in kidnappings in the DHA and weapons, 9mm and TT pistols, were also found with them. Tanoli said that on Saturday night, a woman, Nayab, approached the law enforcers over the kidnap of her husband. She also told them that the criminals had demanded a ransom of Rs5 million. The amount was bargained to Rs2 million and the woman was asked to deliver the money. The police then conducted a raid at the kidnappers’ place, where they found Nayab’s husband Ajmal as well as another man.

While police officials claim that Tanoli had been removed before the raid due to an “internal matter”, the former SHO alleged that his dismissal was brought about by a minister of a political party, who is a relative of one of the arrested men. “My fault was that I uncovered a crime committed by a parliamentarian’s relative,” he said.

However, the newly appointed SHO, Mobeen, rejected Tanoli’s claim. “There is no involvement of any politician,” he said. “This is absurd.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2012.