FAISALABAD, Dec 10: The Rail Bazaar investigation police have allegedly freed one of the arrested persons involved in the cyber crime after getting huge bribe while the mastermind is still at large. Sources close to the investigators claimed on Saturday that some associates of the arrested Yasir Arafat and Habib Akhtar had greased the palms of the police and succeeded in getting Yasir freed. The police, however, entered the arrest of co-accused Habib Akhtar, who was nominated in the FIR as Fayyaz Ahmad.
Sources further said Hassan Khan, the alleged mastermind, had taken refuge in interior Sindh or somewhere in Karachi. The police had not so far conducted any raid for the arrest of the mastermind and were adopting delaying tactics, they said.
The Rail Bazaar police had arrested Fayyaz Ahmad and Yasir Arafat and instituted a case against them on the report of Zafar Mahmood, an assistant vice-president of a local bank branch, that they had drawn Rs90 million on behalf of a a UK-based financial institution and the Shanghai Banking Corporation, Hong Kong.
Even after three days, the police have neither arrested the mastermind nor recovered the money.
Meanwhile, sources said, the UK firm had got registered a criminal case with the UK police on Thursday and asked the Pakistani authorities to look into the matter.
Inspector Mian Khalid of the Rail Bazaar Investigation Cell confirmed the release of one of the arrested persons with the claim that the captive had complaints of pain in chest.
“As we have not recorded his arrest for about 24 hours, there is no obligation to keep him in custody,” he added.
BAN: The Lyallpur Town Administration has imposed a ban on the entry of slow-moving vehicles, including donkey-carts, motorcycle-rickshaws and tongas, in eight bazaars around the Clock Tower and adjoining commercial centres.
According to a notification issued by Town Nazim Rana Zahid Mahmood, donkey-carts and other vehicles are prohibited to enter the markets for ensuring smooth flow of traffic from Monday (tomorrow).
Meanwhile, parking areas have also been marked in the eight bazaars. The town staff, along with the traffic police, would impound vehicles in case of violation.
FARMER BODIES: The Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority has constituted 3,666 farmer committees to resolve their problems.
At a meeting here, PIDA chief engineer Qazi Muhammad Anwar said the government had included another 14 farmer organizations in the irrigation system, adding that “khal reconciliation committees” were being set up.
He said for the first time in the national history, the powers delegated to sub-divisional officers and executive engineers related to the distribution of water had been delegated to farmers organizations.
The farmer bodies had also been authorized to spend 40 per cent of abiana (water cess) while the remaining amount would have to be deposited with the government treasury.
