Motorway case key accused: Police still groping in the dark

LAHORE: Policemen of several districts, including the Counter Terrorism Department and the Special Branch are still groping in the dark to trace the key rapist Abid Ali playing hide and seek with the police for the last 11 days.

Even the police offer of a reward of Rs2500,000 for evidence leading to the arrest yielded no useful information. Dozens of arrests of Abid’s relatives and arsenal of high-tech gadgets could not prove to be sufficient enough to deliver the fruitful result the Punjab police believed to have got within two to three days.

A suspect Waqarul Hassan already surrendered himself before the Punjab Police on September 13, which initially provided a sigh of relief to the police officials; but, later on, were taken aback by his sudden appearance and claim to have not been involved in the incident. One of the two rapists Shafqat was arrested on September 14. During a large-scale manhunt for the key rapist Abid Ali, police traced 13 cases registered against Abid Ali, in four police stations of Punjab.

Having glanced over the past details, one can understand that poor strategy by the police and leakage of information has benefited the key rapist a lot, who is still at large. Though over dozens of police raiding teams have been on their toes to nail the culprit, but they are yet to achieve success.

Meanwhile, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh opened a Pandora’s box by making an objectionable statement that invited a countrywide criticism. Show cause notice was issued to the CCPO after irresponsible remarks on the Motorway gang rape incident. The chief minister said the statement given by the CCPO regarding Motorway gang rape was irresponsible, show cause notice had been issued and he would submit his reply to IGP Punjab within seven days. The CCPO blamed the victim of leaving the house and taking Motorway route instead of GT Road without adequate fuel. CCPO tendered his apology on September 14. On September 14, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Qasim Khan also directed the police to round up the culprits within three days, but to no avail.

Special Investigation Team Lahore-Sialkot Motorway Chairman Shahzada Sultan claimed that the police teams are either chasing the key culprit or are already present there, where the accused is going. He said he is supervising a special team while rapid response teams have been constituted in all districts, besides which eight raiding teams and secret teams of Special Branch are also on their toes in various districts to arrest the most wanted criminal.

He said Prosecutor General Punjab has appointed a special team of prosecutors to proceed in the right direction. He further added that the identification of the victim is necessary to be kept secret given the sensitivity of the crime, and implementation of the law - which ensures the protection of the female victims and eyewitnesses - is also being considered for the case. Analysis of these claims and statements by Shahzada Sultan only makes a person wonder that it must be the work of some divine force that despite the geographical proximity or the traditional appointment of police teams, police officials are unable to catch the criminal.