A crime is generally a case of two conflicting accounts and its solution lies in separating the truth from the story. Take the recent crime case to have confronted the police in the federal capital.

Dr Fazeela Abbasi, also an adviser to the health ministry, who treated her, refused to accede to Rasheed's demands and insisted that she pay over the remaining Rs17,000. The patient had paid an advance of Rs8,000.

As a result a quarrel broke out which ended in the hospital staff manhandling the patient and detaining her. Nonetheless, she managed to inform Rescue-15 on her cell phone and SI Shahbaz and ASI Rizwan reached the clinic only to be manhandled and detained.

Eventually the arrival of additional deputy commissioner Islamabad resolved the issue temporarily and the detainees were set free.

This is the story told in the case that has been registered against Dr Imran, Dr Abbasi, the security guards at the clinic, Mohammad Aslam and Rohullah and an unidentified man.

And what a contrast it is to the story told by Dr Abbasi, who happens to be the daughter of a parliamentarian. Talking to Dawn the doctor claimed that Rukhsana Rasheed did all this to embarrass Dr Abassi at the behest of the latter's former husband. In support of her argument, Dr Abbasi pointed out that the address Rasheed gave to the police, which is mentioned in the FIR, is wrong; Rasheed does not reside at that address.

According to the doctor, the patient visited her on August 20 for the treatment of Phulbari. The doctor further added that Rasheed only paid Rs500 fee out of the total Rs25,000 charged.

The patient returned on August 30 and complained that the medicines she had been given failed to work. And though she was told that the treatment would take more than 10 days to kick in, she not only refused to pay her dues but also abused the clinic staff.

Within minutes of this, said the doctor, three people arrived at the clinic; introducing themselves as policemen and they too started to abuse the staff. It was at this point that Dr Abbasi called the chief commissioner Islamabad, a relative, and sought his help. Nonetheless, a case was registered against the hospital staff and the doctors.

Rasheed is proving difficult to trace. And in the meantime, it is difficult to figure out which account is right — the one told by the doctor or the one documented in the FIR.

And before these claims and counterclaims could be verified, the case took a turn for the unexpected. Dr Fazeela Abbasi was given bail by a court on September 3. This is unusual because according to the police the medicine woman was not even in their custody and hence the option of being granted bail does not arise. But the court order tells a different story, yet again.

The court order says that “Request for judicial remand of the accused has been made by the police. At present the accused is under the custody of investigation officer”. However, the accused denied that she had ever been in police custody. She told Dawn that she was neither approached by the police nor interrogated nor arrested. And for once the police agree with her. They too said that they never arrested her in connection with the case.

The Shalimar police, who are investigating the case, were informed about the court order the same day. After this, the investigation officer, SI Mian Shahbaz, came to the court and protested the orders and the manner in which the bail had been given.

According to the IO, the accused was never arrested or taken into custody nor produced in the court of law. He added that the police did not even receive a notice to appear before the court for the hearing of the bail application. The police officers have written and informed their senior officials about the situation.

A legal expert says that the presence of the accused is necessary in the court for bail to be given. The submission of bail application, the prior notification to the police and the version of the investigation officer are mandatory before bail can be granted. How Civil Judge Islamabad Rai Liaquat Ali Kharal managed to grant bail to an accused is beyond the understanding of observers.

But the near future may bring more facts to light and hence more clarity. In the meantime, what can one say except to comment that a crime, till it is resolved, is essentially two different tales told by the opposing sides. Perhaps the more cynical would say that a crime tells the story of power. Those who are powerful always get away scot-free while the weak are held accountable. Not a completely invalid observation if one keeps in mind the fact that the only people arrested in this story were the two security guards at the clinic -- Mohammad Aslam and Rohullah.