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| September 12, 2005 | Monday | Sha’aban 7, 1426 |
‘Policemen grabbed Rs45m’: Report gives out Asim-police deal
FAISALABAD, Sept 11: SP Abdullah Khalid and Inspector Jamshed Iqbal Chishti, the main accused in the Sonia Naz case and the motor registration scandal, have been declared guilty of receiving Rs45 million from the people whose vehicles were taken into custody during interrogation.
They also allegedly pocketed Rs1.4 million to set excise clerk Asif Yousaf at liberty.
According to a an investigation agency report presented before the one-man tribunal of District and Sessions Judge Abdul Waheed Khan, Asim Yousaf was rounded up by the police and presented before SP Abdullah Khalid through Shaukat Warraich, a resident of Sargodha, and former DIG prisons Nasir Warraich, a brother-in-law of the SP, in August 2004 after striking a deal.
Asim, the report said, paid Rs1.4 million to the police officials on the condition that his name would be cleared.
The report further said the local police, headed by SP Abdullah and DSP (Investigation) Mushtaq Ahmad, raided the Excise and Taxation Department’s motor branch on June 4, 2004 on the suspicion of preparation of fake registration documents of vehicles.
The police arrested excise inspector Javed Iqbal Babar, Umer Saleem Alvi, Abdul Waheed and Muhammad Arif on the charge of preparing fake documents of vehicles and confiscated the relevant record. They instituted a case No 253/04 under section 467, 468, 471, 420, 401, 400, 109, 409 of PPC against Javed Iqbal, Rana Shahid, Yousaf Gujjar, Asim Yousaf, Umar Saleem Alvi, Nasrullah Baig, Asif Bhatti, Nadeem Altaf, Sheikh Saeed, Haji Lakha and Tariq Munshi.
The police also conducted raids at different places and took into custody 60 to 65 vehicles with fake registrations.
“SP Abdullah, DSP Mushtaq Ahmad and Inspector Jamshed during interrogation found Javed Babar, Umar Saleem Alvi, Asim Yousaf, Rana Shahid, Nasarullah Baig, Muhammad Tariq, Abdul Waheed and Haji Arif guilty of crime, and sent Javed, Umer Saleem, Abdul Waheed and Muhammad Arif to jail.
“They, however, exonerated Asim Yousaf and others,” added the report.
During the course of investigation, SP Abdullah, DSP Mushtaq and Inspector Jamshed extorted around Rs700,000 to Rs800,000 from each suspect and 60 to 65 vehicle owners. They also took bribe from ETO (Motor Branch) Farman Masood, Altaf Husain, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Asif, Saeed Anwar and Muhammad Yousaf for vindicating them, according to the report.
It pointed out that Asim was not arrested during the raid and the police conducted two or three raids at his residence after the dust was settled, but failed to arrest him. A case FIR No 299 (dated 22-8-2004) was lodged under section 420, 468, 471 with the Civil Lines police station against Asim’s father Muhammad Yousaf.
Feeling the police pressure, Asim’s father had approached DIG Nasir Warraich through Shaukat Ali Warraich of Sargodha to seek favour in the case. Shaukat presented Asim after about two months before Abdullah Khalid and he was taken into custody, but no formal arrest was made.
According to the investigation report, Inspector Jamshed took Asim to the excise office and took several files into custody on his pointation.
Two or three days later, a news item appeared which claimed that Asim had escaped the police custody — a charge denied by the latter.
What happened was that Asim had given bribe to SP Abdullah and other officers who facilitated him in fleeing, the findings of the agency revealed.
Since then Asim’s family, including his parents and an unmarried sister, had gone underground from his house No 189 at Street No 3, Diglospura, Faisalabad.
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