A District East judicial magistrate sent five suspended police personnel to jail on Friday over the escape of the prime suspect in the Dua Mangi kidnapping case.
Head constables Mohammad Naved, Nayab Ahmed, Mohammad Younus, and constables Habib Zafar and Umer Farooq appeared before the court on charges pertaining to the escape of Zohaib Qureshi, the key suspect standing trial in the kidnapping case, after his hearing at the city courts last month.
The investigation officer submitted that the inquiry had been completed, and requested the court to send the cops to prison. He also sought time to submit the charge sheet.
According to the prosecution, the suspended constables had taken Qureshi to a shopping centre on Tariq Road in a private car instead of taking him back to jail in the prisoners’ van, and the suspect managed to flee. The incident can be seen in CCTV footage that surfaced on January 27.
Police registered a case against Head Constable Naveed, Constable Habib Zafar and three other police personnel for criminal negligence and facilitating the under-trial prisoner in his escape. Qureshi had been arrested in 2020 on charges of kidnapping Dua Mangi for ransom in the Defence area in November 2019. The girl was later freed after the payment of the ransom.
Qureshi’s escape had come to light when the jail police found him absent during the headcount on the return of prisoners from the court. The Ferozabad police then took action and arrested policemen Naveed and Zafar.
The CCTV camera footage clearly shows how the policemen had helped the under-trial prisoner in escaping. In the video clip obtained by The News, the suspect can be seen wearing neat and clean clothes as he enters the shopping mall on Tariq Road and then fleeing from the back exit.