Three cops held for extorting money from key lynching suspect, family

By our correspondents
August 25, 2019

Police officials investigating the lynching of a teenage boy on the accusation of robbing a house in the Bahadurabad neighbourhood have been arrested on charges of blackmailing and extorting money from the prime suspect and his family.

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Seventeen-year-old Rehan of Khudadad Colony was beaten to death on August 17 by a bungalow owner, namely Daniyal, his friend Zubair and other people in Bahadurabad’s Kokan Society after allegedly being caught stealing valuables from Daniyal’s house.

Daniyal claimed that the boy’s accomplice had managed to escape from the scene. The Ferozabad police arrested the bungalow owner and his friend the same day.

The investigation wing of the District East police arrested more suspects — identified as Anas, Shariq and Masood — during a raid in Kokan Society on August 19.

District East police chief SSP Ghulam Azfar Mahesar said on Saturday that Station Investigation Officer (SIO) Farooq Azam, Sub-Inspector Rehmat and Constable Shah Faisal have been arrested for extorting money from the family members of prime suspect Daniyal.

The SSP said constables Ghulam Rasool and Muhammad Khan are on the run. He said that FIR No. 245/2019 has been registered against the arrested policemen under the sections 384 and 385 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Explaining the matter, the District East police chief said the investigation team took the key suspect to his house and forcibly entered the premises, adding that the policemen caused panic and fear among the family members.

Remand extended

A judicial magistrate has extended the police remand of five people for three days, issuing notices to the prosecution over the pre-arrest bail applications filed by other suspects in the lynching case.

Police had brought Daniyal, Zubair, Anas, Shariq and Masood in the court of the Bahadurabad East judicial magistrate on the expiry of their four-day physical remand and sought their custody again to complete their interrogation.

The court also received bail before arrest applications filed by other persons nominated in the case through their counsels. The court fixed August 27 for the hearing of the matter, issuing a notice to the prosecution to submit its response and ordering the police to submit the case file.

Questioning the police plea seeking extension in the suspects’ remand, the judge asked the investigating officer why he needed more time.

The IO replied that he was handed over the case a day ago and needed time to interrogate the suspects to prepare the charge sheet.

Approving the request of the IO, the judicial magistrate summoned the SHO as well as the SIO of the Ferozabad police station in the next hearing. The investigation

Following the lynching, a heavy contingent of Rangers soldiers and police officials reached the scene of the crime. The investigators were told that two persons had entered the bungalow with the intention of robbery, but the residents managed to catch one of them, Rehan, as the other escaped.

The police found that the residents bound the boy’s hands and feet with rope, while the neighbours gathered on the scene, following which all of them beat him up severely until the law enforcers arrived. The boy died while being taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The law enforcers said a robbery case was registered against Rehan in the past, adding that they did not find any clue that could suggest that he had entered the house with the intention of robbery.

The case against the lynch mob was registered on the complaint of Rehan’s father on August 17. While two of the suspects were taken into custody the same day, three others were arrested two days later. Ferozabad SHO Aurangzeb Khattak said the police arrested the three suspects with the help of a video clip that went viral on social media, adding that the three could be seen beating up the boy in the footage.

The footage of the incident showed Rehan bound to a metallic grill and being interrogated by a mob that also beat him up severely. The boy could be heard naming his accomplices in the video that was recorded by Daniyal and the other locals.

Khattak said consultation was under way about adding Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act in the FIR,

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