Protest against police for freeing suspects

Police say the men are still in custody.

FAISALABAD: The family of a woman, who returned home on Tuesday night after she was allegedly kidnapped in March, protested against Dijkot police on Wednesday for allegedly releasing two of the kidnappers.

The protesters, residents of Chak 260-RB, gathered at Katchery Bazaar Chowk and demanded immediate re-arrest of the released men.

They accused the police of protecting them (suspects) and demanded that senior police officials take action against the station house officer who they alleged had been bribed by the criminals.

They said three men had kidnapped the woman on March 5 and the case was registered with the Dijkot police. Two of them, they said, were arrested a week ago, but were let go on Sunday.

They said that SHO Inspector Bilal Mansoor had taken bribe from the two men.

Muhammad Akram, one of the protesting relatives of the woman, said that he and some of his relatives had been visiting the police station every day since the men were released. He said they saw one of the men in the street, but the SHO kept telling them that both the men were still in custody.

Akram said when they went to see the SHO again on Wednesday morning, he told them to settle the matter with the suspects and withdraw the complaint saying “the woman was back home now”. He said they then took to the streets so that his seniors could take notice of the matter.

The protesters dispersed when a police team arrived on the scene.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the SHO denied the allegations. He said he had not taken any bribe and that the suspects were still in police custody and being questioned.

He said it seemed that the woman had had a relationship with one of the suspects. He said two months ago, she had left home to marry him. They said the man told them that he was not interested in marrying her. He claimed that he did not have any idea where the woman had been all this time. He said her family had falsely implicated the man and his friends in the case “to cover up the elopement”.

The SHO said the woman’s family had not allowed the police to record her statement saying that she was in no condition to do so.

He said no action could be taken against the men until the evidence was all in. He said the woman’s family had been summoned to the police station. He said the third suspect was missing.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2013.