Daughter of DHA road crash victim moves court against ex-CPLC chief

A sessions court on Tuesday sought a detailed report from the superintendent of police (SP) complaints in District South over an application filed by a girl stating that her family was defrauded and forced by police into signing a compromise agreement with the person who killed her father in a road crash, as the person hails from an influential family.

At around midnight on May 21, Shamimuddin, 53, who worked as a lift operator with the Defence Housing Authority, was killed as his motorcycle was run over by a Land Cruiser driven by Saad Aziz, son of former Citizens-Police Liaison Committee chief Hafeez Aziz, on Khayaban-e-Ittehad in DHA Phase VII.

The deceased’s daughter, Malaika, said as she learnt about the accident, she along with her mother and uncle went to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where ASI Nadeem Mumtaz, told her that her father had expired.

She claimed that the police officer said if she wanted to take the body with her, she should make a compromise with the driver, whose family was also present in the hospital, else she would have to wait for two days until the police completed all formalities.

“We were mourning but ASI Mumtaz insisted that I sign a paper stating that ‘I for the sake of Allah pardoned the driver of the vehicle which hit my father and did not want any criminal proceeding against him’,” she said, adding that SHO of Gizri police Rizwan Arain warned her that it would be in vain if she opted to pursue the case of her father’s death because the accused were wealthy and powerful.

The next day, she said, she was driven to the bungalow of Hafeez where police were already present and they made her sign an affidavit that she forgave the driver and in exchange accepted the Diyat offer (blood money) of Rs3.2 million made by Hafeez. According to the affidavit, Rs250,000 were paid in cash and the rest in two cheques made in the name of Shamim’s widow. The family denied receiving any cheques.

“The police had already registered an FIR on the complaint of the state rather on mine and had written in it that I or my family did not want to follow the case in court,” she said. “When I got to know about this, I went to the police station to lodge a complaint against the SHO, but they did not listen to us and told me that I could not do anything against them. I went to the SP office but got the same response.”

Hafeez, who is a businessperson and a managing committee member of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, denied the allegations that he used his influence.

“First the family said that it was an accident and they pardoned my son for Allah but they later demanded Rs2 million and then Rs3 million. Some DHA officials suggested me to pay Rs2.5 million to the family, yet I decided to pay them Rs3.2 million as per my own calculation of Diyat.”

He said that in the presence of witnesses, including the girl’s uncles and some ex-servicemen who worked at the DHA, he suggested that he should buy a house for the family since they lived on rent and they agreed to it.

“Then one day, they called me that they had found a house which cost over Rs6 million and the owner wanted to sell it immediately. This is where I said that the compensation would be paid through the court because I had lost trust in them.”

He said that SSP Investigation South Saud Magsi also intervened and made us sit to resolve our issues. “I have all evidence that from the beginning I did not use any influence and tried to console the grieving family in the best way I could. I believe that someone is exploiting the case by using the family as a blackmailing tool. Besides the Diyat, I also pledged to take care of the family for life.” The court has fixed the hearing of the girl’s application on July 29.