Citizen narrates Mughalpura police highhandedness

DSP says cop summoned to face inquiry supposed to have begun in April

LAHORE

A man with no previous criminal record claims to have been threatened, abducted, booked in false cases and forced to pay over Rs142,000 in bribe.

The victim Mohammad Yasar, 32, son  of Mohammad Ashiq, House No 1, Street No 3, Nabipura Arainyan, Baghbanpura Lahore, believes that he has become a soft target for the policemen who pick him up whenever they want to extort money and his release depends upon the mode and plan of the catchers in uniform. 

Yasar filed a complaint with the CCPO Lahore on April 12, 2016, in which he mentioned the names of those policemen who had been harassing him, abducting him and extorting money in the name of fake FIRs since last December 2015. And, subsequently, his application was marked to DSP Mughalpura for inquiry and report.

DSP Mughalpura was on leave for some days but his Reader Ramzan had been calling Yasar to DSP Mughalpura in scorching heat for nothing. Yasar visited the office of DSP Mughalpura on May 10, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 17, 2016 for justice, but to no avail.

Yasar alleged Mughalpura police caught him near his house on December 10, 2015, and registered a fake case against him on charges of carrying an illicit weapon. He alleged that an ASI received Rs45,000 cash from Yasar and assured him that no case would be registered against him, but he did not honour his words.

On February 25, 2016, police officials Shahzad and Imtiaz caught Yasar after introducing themselves as CIA officials and handed over him to the Mughalpura police officials Ibrar, Mudassar Khan and Mudassar Chuhan. However, Yasar was not implicated in any fake FIR as two policemen received Rs40,000 cash from Yasar inside a juice corner at Butt Chowk in Tajpura, while three other policemen received Rs30,000 cash from him at Mughalpura Chowk.

On March 12, 2016, the police officials Shahbaz Gujar, Rana Amjad, Ali Imran and ASI Hafiz Shakoor picked him up from barracks No 12, Mughalpura and registered a fake case against him on charges of carrying two half bottles of liquor. This time, Yasar alleged, he was not implicated in any case after paying Rs25,000 bribe.

On April 10, 2016, a policeman Shahzad along with one Mahmood alias Mooda caught him, took him to Mughalpura police station and handed over him to ASI Ghafoor. The ASI informed Yasar that SHO Mughalpura had ordered to register a case against him on drug charges. Later, he was handed over to Sub-Inspector Hayat. Meanwhile, Yasar’s family members and a large number of locals of the area reached the police station and demanded his release from illegal confinement. Police released Yasar after receiving written statements from locals of the area. In this instance, a policeman did not return Rs2,970 cash to Yasar taken from him during his body search.

On May 16, the DSP Mughalpura’s Reader Ameen summoned Yasar and informed that policemen from Mughalpura police station would neither harass him nor implicate him in fake cases as the DSP Mughalpura had given directions to the SHO Mughalpura in this regard and his complaint had been disposed of.

On May 17, Yasar met the Reader SP Civil Lines Nazeer and informed him that he had been trying to meet DSP Mughalpura since April 12, 2016. On which he called the DSP Mughalpura Reader Ramzan and asked him as to why he did not produce him before the DSP Mughalpura.

On May 28, Yasar visited the office of DSP at around 6:50pm and refused to leave the office without seeing the DSP. At around 8:10pm, Yasar was allowed to see the DSP Mughalpura who grilled him about the allegations levelled by him against the policemen and then assured him of “justice”.

Talking to The News, Yasar said that the real name of one of the police officials who had arrested him and had introduced him as Shahzad was Amjad who served in Security Branch Lahore, but introduced himself as a CIA official. When contacted, DSP Mughalpura office told this correspondent that an inquiry had been ordered and ASI Israr posted at Nawankot police station and ASI Hafiz Shakoor posted at Mughalpura police station summoned on May 31, 2016 to face the inquiry which was supposed to have begun in April.