Five suspects remanded in judicial custody in Orangi burglary case

A court on Wednesday remanded five suspects in judicial custody in a case pertaining to the theft of Rs20 million, jewellery and other valuables during a raid on the residence of a trader in Orangi Town.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Umair Tariq Bajari, along with his two guards, Constable Khurram Ali and Constable Farhan Ali, and over a dozen other unidentified policemen and private persons, has been booked on charges of raiding the house of trader Shakir Khan in Orangi Town and kidnapping him and his brother on the night between November 18 and 19.

The investigating officer produced five suspects — Izhar, Sattar, Mehfooz, Sohail and Shahrukh — before Judicial Magistrate (West) Muhammad Abdullah Qadri. The suspects’ faces were covered with cloth as they were brought to the court.

The IO stated that Sohail and Shahrukh were arrested on Tuesday, requesting the judge to hand over all the suspects to the police for further investigations. He said he required the custody of three suspects — Izhar, Sohail and Kamran — for their identification parade as he has already filed an application for the purpose.

Meanwhile, the lawyers for the suspects submitted their vakalatnama in court. When the magistrate inquired whether they objected to the identification parade of their clients, they responded in the negative.

Turning the IO’s request for grant of the suspects’ physical remand, the magistrate sent them to prison on judicial remand and adjourned the hearing until December 4.

On November 24, the magistrate had remanded DSP Bajari to jail on judicial remand. An FIR was registered on Khan’s complaint at the Pirabad police station under sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 365 (kidnapping) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Bajari, constables Khurram Ali and Farhan Ali, and 15 to 20 others, among whom some were in police uniform and others were in plain clothes.