PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police have failed to arrest the main culprits in four murder cases so far despite tall claims of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan.
The killers of Sharifan Bibi, minor girl Asma, and student Mashal are still at large due to backing of influential people belonging to the PTI. It is alleged that a provincial minister played a role in fleeing of main culprit in the case of Sharifan Bibi of Dera Ismael Khan. Also no progress could be made so far in the murder case of Asma.
Also, PTI’s former tehsil councillor Arif, who incited people in Mashal murder case, is still at large along with his three accomplices. On the other hand, the killer of Kohat medical college student Aasma Rani has fled the country, leaving the police high and dry.
In all these cases, PTI Chairman Imran Khan had not visited the victim families to assure them of justice provision. However KP Inspector-General of Police Salahuddin Khan Mehsood, has rejected the allegation of any political interference in the police working. He said the police were totally free of any pressure, and working independently. He said no culprit could escape the police no matter how much influential he was. He said the person who fired on Mashal had been arrested along with 58 other accused.
According to details, Sharifan Bibi, a resident of Dera Ismael Khan suburban locality in Chodhwan Police Station area, was tortured and stripped by influential people of the locality on Oct 27, 2017, over an issue involving women, and paraded her naked in the streets of the village.
The influential people also got registered a case against the ill-fated woman. However, when the media highlighted the case, another case was registered on the complaint of the victim and the old FIR was abolished. Dera police have arrested eight out of total nine accused and submitted challan against them in the court of law. However, the police have failed to arrest a main culprit, Sajawal.
PTI’s MNA Dawar Kundi has alleged that a provincial minister Ali Amin Gandapur was sheltering the culprits. Taking notice of the serious allegations, Imran Khan took notice of the allegations and served a notice. However, the main accused is still at large despite the PTI chairman’s claims.
Earlier on January 15, unidentified persons raped and killed four-year-old Aasma and dumped her body in sugarcane fields. Police hid the post-mortem report from January 14 to 17 but later admitted the sexual assault which has also been confirmed by forensic report.
The police collected DNA tests of over 200 locals but the culprit involved in the heinous act could not be arrested so far.
Another major crime was committed at the Abdul Wali University, Mardan, on January 17, 2017 where a mob tortured and shot dead a student Mashal Khan over the allegation of blasphemy. However, no evidence was found against Mashal.
A total of 61 persons were nominated in the FIR and the police also included the terrorism-related sections nine month later. The police have arrested 59 accused and Imran, who shot dead Mashal, is among them. But three of the accused, including Arif who incited the people, are still absconding. Imran is a former tehsil councillor of PTI.
On 27th of this month, Aasma – a student of Sarai Naurang Medical College – was killed and the accused managed to flee to Saudi Arabia from Islamabad via flight number SV-889 due to the negligence of police.
When contacted, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IGP Salahuddin Mehsud rejected the reports of political interference and said the police were investigating all the cases freely. No culprit, no matter how influential he is, would escape punishment, he claimed.
Mehsud said 58 persons were arrested in the Mashal murder case, including Imran who had fired shots at the victim, adding that the weapon used in the murder had also been recovered from him.
He said the challan was submitted in an anti—terrorism court of Haripur and the verdict would be issued in a few days. The police were conducting raids to capture the remaining three accused, Mehsud said.
About Sharifan’s case, the provincial police chief said eight of the nine nominated persons had been arrested and the joint team would soon arrest Sajawal, the main accused. There was no question of political interference, he said, adding that the challan of the arrested persons was presented in the court, while the Peshawar High Court had also rejected their bail plea.
Regarding Aasma of Mardan, Mehsud said the police had been investigating the matter and the DNA tests of the suspected person were being conducted. No accused would be able to dodge justice after the report was received, he stressed.
The killer of the medical college student in Kohat had been identified and raids were being conducted for his arrest, said IGP.