Controversial cop: Former capital police chief booked for kidnapping

Bani Amin accused of having a role in the disappearance of a cop, a revenue official.

ISLAMABAD:

The capital police have registered a kidnapping case against their former inspector general Bani Amin Khan.

The case was registered on Monday on the directions of the Supreme Court over the missing person case of capital police officer Inspector Rana Pervez. The Margalla police have registered a first information report (FIR) against Khan for kidnapping the police inspector. Khan was first serving as a deputy inspector general (operations) and later became the capital’s top cop.



Pervez and revenue official Arshad Mehmood went missing on December 3, 2010. In November this year, a suspect allegedly affiliated with the Punjabi Taliban was arrested for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping. The police identified the suspect as Raja Munir, an associate of Asmatullah Muavia of the Punjabi Taliban. The apex court had clubbed this case with the larger missing persons issue and had asked the police to register an FIR against those responsible.

In April 2011, the police had arrested Muavia’s brother Sibghatullah Muavia from Vehari, Punjab for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping. However, he was released later as part of a deal under which Muavia agreed to set the inspector free in exchange for his brother. But after the police released the captive, the kidnappers did not keep their part of the deal.

Earlier, the top court had expressed concern over the issue and noted the alleged links of police officials with militants. Pervaiz, a heart patient, left his house on December 3, 2010 and never returned. His family had told the police that he had gone to meet an unknown person in Tarnol from where he was kidnapped. The last call he made from his mobile phone to his house was from Tarnol.



Later, his family told the police that he had gone to meet some people who had shown interest in purchasing land in Tarnol from his business partner, a property dealer. The partner, a member of a persecuted minority sect, was allegedly the actual target of the kidnappers.

Earlier this year, Khan earned the ire of the Supreme Court over his role in the attempted cover-up of the alleged murder of his ex-daughter-in-law in Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2013.