Policing priorities: ‘Warden freed biker who killed man to clear route’

Petitioner seeks transfer of case to another investigator.

LAHORE:

An additional district and sessions judge has directed the senior superintendent of police (SSP) for investigation to look into allegations that a traffic warden allowed a man who had run over and killed a pedestrian on Ferozepur Road to flee because he was busy clearing the way for the chief minister’s motorcade.

Petitioner Dianat Hussain has asked the court to hand over the case to another investigator, as Investigation Officer Muhammad Boota had not been taking the task seriously.

Earlier, Ichhra police had registered a case against an unidentified motorcyclist under Section 332 (qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code on June 12.

The petitioner said that on June 8, 2012, his father and brother went to drop their sister to college. He said that their motorbike malfunctioned near the FC College underpass and his father accompanied his sister to college on foot, leaving his brother with the motorbike. However, his father did not return to the spot for several hours and so his brother went home.

Dianat Hussain said that he lodged a missing persons report at the local police station and searched for his father in the city’s hospitals. Eventually, despite a lack of cooperation from authorities at Services Hospital, he found his father’s body lying in the corridors there two days after his death.

He said he was told that his father had been brought to the hospital by Rescue 1122 officials after an accident on Ferozepur Road.

Hussain said that he found out which traffic warden was on duty at the time and managed to get in touch with him. He said that the warden, identified only as Amir, told him that a speeding motorcyclist had hit his father, killing him at the scene. The warden told him that he had nabbed the motorcyclist and noted down his licence plate number, said the petitioner. However, the chief minister’s motorcade was about to pass by the spot and the warden had to clear the route, so he let the motorcyclist go, said the petitioner.

The petitioner asked the court to order the registration of a case against the traffic warden for criminal negligence.

He said that Investigation Officer M Boota had still not arrested the accused, despite knowing his licence plate number. He said that the officer had not even recorded the statements of the warden or Rescue 1122 officials. He asked that the case be transferred to another investigation officer.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Tariq Mehmood Zargham directed the SSP (Investigation) to look into the matter, address the petitioner’s grievances and decide his application for change of investigation on merit.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th, 2012.