‘Drug-smuggling cops’: Two accused get bail, inquiry ordered

Father of an accused cop says his son was investigating crime.

RAWALPINDI:

A district court has directed the Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO) to hold an inquiry in a criminal case registered against six persons including three police constables who were arrested while carrying over five kilograms of hashish earlier this month.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Naveed Iqbal on Friday accepted the post-arrest bail pleas of two accused policemen and directed CPO Azhar Hameed Khokhar to hold a departmental inquiry into the case.

The judge accepted the bail pleas of Saeed Akhtar and Babar Hussain Shah and directed them to submit surety bonds worth Rs50,000 each.

In his order, the judge observed that the Saddar Bairuni police did not recover any narcotics from the custody of the two constables who were deputed at Race Course Police Station. The court noted that the two men were not arrested from the spot and expressed surprise over how one of the two vehicles escaped from police on Girja Road on August 4 despite the presence of a number of policemen.

In the FIR, the police accused the two constables of speeding away from the scene in a white Toyota Corolla along with Ishtiaq Ahmed, a head constable also deputed at Race Course Police Station.

The police later arrested the two constables but Ahmed has yet to be arrested.

Azeem, Constable Natiq Shakeel, Ghulam Qamar and Shazia Bibi were arrested after five kilograms of hashish were found the Suzuki Alto they were in.

Unheard statement

Separately, Natiq Shakeel’s father Chaudhry Aqeel has filed an application under section 22-A of the criminal procedure code saying Shakeel’s statement had not been made part of the police record. His application will be taken up on August 25 by ADSJ Naveed Iqbal. The petitioner said his son and the other policemen arrested Azeem and two women with the contraband, adding that when they arrested the three persons, a smuggler called on Azeem’s cell phone asking the police to cut a deal with him and not register a criminal case.

Aqeel claimed his son and the other policemen informed their superiors about the phone call and they were directed to trace the main smugglers and arrest them. According to the petition, while the cops were on Girja Road looking for the caller, they were picked up and taken to Sadar Bairuni Police Station and tortured.

He has prayed to the court to direct the investigation officer to make the statement of Natiq Shakeel part of his investigation record and the daily police diary.

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