August 04, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 19, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Aug 3: Additional District and Sessions Judge Shaukat Mehmood here on Friday served a show-cause notice on the Airport police station SHO for harassing and threatening a government official.

The judge had earlier directed the SHO to appear before the court and explain his position in the case, but the official instead sent two sub-inspectors, Gulzar and Khalid Mehmood, to submit his written reply.

Taking notice of the non-compliance with the court orders, the judge issued show-cause notices to the SHO and the two SIs.

According to the petitioner, Mohammad Shafique, a driver at Governor House Sindh, the Airport police came to his house near Attock Oil Company on July 1 in his absence and asked his relatives to send him to the police station as he was nominated in an FIR. The police also threatened them with dire consequences in case of “non-compliance”.

Fearing his arrest, Mr Shafique sent some relatives to the police station where they learnt that no FIR was registered against the driver, but a woman - Zarina Begum - had given an application against a relative of Mr Shafique.

She had reached a land purchase deal with that said relative and Mr Shafique was a witness to the agreement, a point that the petitioner had gainsaid.

Despite his explanation, the police kept on harassing Mr Shafique and his family with the threats of implicating him in criminal cases.