Inside help: Policeman demoted for ‘spying’ for MPA

Sub Inspector Ashraf had allegedly called MPA to warn him of a police raid for his arrest.

FAISALABAD:

City Police Officer (CPO) Dr Sohail Habib Tajik on Tuesday demoted a sub inspector of Khuarianwala police for spying for MPA Shoaib Idrees, who faces charges of assaulting policemen.

SI Muhammad Ashraf has been made a constable and transferred to Thikriwala police station.

“Ashraf is an employee of the police department. By working for the MPA, he damaged the reputation of the Police Department. Therefore, disciplinary action was taken against him,” Tajik said.

The CPO said that Ashraf had helped the MPA avoid arrest. “Idrees was accused of attacking the Khurarianwala police. A police party raided the house of his in-laws in Lahore. However, he was not found there. It was later learnt that he had left the house just before the police raid because Ashraf had informed him about it,” he said.

Tajik said Ashraf’s cell phone data had been obtained and analysed. “We found that Ashraf had called the MPA some time before the police raid,” he said.

“Ashraf was issued a show-cause notice, but he did not provide a satisfactory explanation. The investigation concluded that he had been spying for the MPA,” Tajik said.

A case was registered against Idrees on July 19. Police said he and nine other nominated and 50 unidentified accomplices attacked the police station and injured a policeman.

Police then conducted a number of raids to arrest him in Faisalabad and other areas of the province. However, they failed to arrest him and he remained at large.

On July 24, he obtained protective bail from the Lahore High Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2014.