E-11/2 harassment incident: Blackmailing gang operating in Capital with impunity

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Police have arrested four criminals of a gang of blackmailers and harassers working with impunity for the last eight months from different areas in the federal capital, who after tormenting its victims physically and mentally would upload their compromising video clips, ruining their lives.

These were involved in the recent case of harassment of a couple from E-11/2, whose distressing video of abject humiliation was uploaded by the gang. It even forced the PM and the interior minister to direct swift action against the culprits. The scandalous and alarming video shows how the couple were thrashed and forced to undress under extreme duress. Three more of the accomplices are on the run and the police are confident that they would be brought to book. But those arrested remain audacious. The leader of the gang is threatening from the police custody “that he will free within days to unleash vengeance.”

While the extent of the extortion and blackmailing network would be determined by an honest and detailed investigation, it would also expose the number of victims traumatised by the gangsters, so that the full weight of law could be brought against these homophobic characters which alone to a certain degree would lessen the trauma of the victims.

Both the PM and the Interior Minister Shaikh Rashid have directed the police chief to submit investigation report. Would the investigation see the light of the day? It depends if the police investigations are not influenced in the favour of criminals due to the degree of control, such networks routinely harbour upon the law enforcement machinery. However, the IGP Islamabad, Qazi Jamil-ur-Rehman, ruled out any such eventuality, saying the ‘investigation officer’ is an SP and not a ‘Sub-Inspector’.

“Ruthless campaign has been initiated against those criminals,” Qazi Jamil-ur-Rehman said while talking to this correspondent. He said that four accused were arrested while three others were being pursued. The Golra Police have registered an FIR under sections 354-A, 506-II, 341, 509, 34 PPC against the accused. “I am supervising the investigations being conducted by SP Saddar,” he said. He said the special investigation team has prepared the preliminary report for submission to the PM and interior minister.

Meanwhile, the video and voice recordings recovered from this incident and from others are admissible in court of law but an important part of the technical investigations would be conducted by the Federal Investigation Agency under the ‘Cyber Crime Act’. So far, according to the FIA officials, “they have not been approached to investigate the case. When and if that happens, we will extend our full cooperation to pinpoint as to when and by whom these video clips were uploaded,” the FIA official said.