ISLAMABAD: The unprofessional attitude of the capital police has endangered the life of an eyewitness to the attack on senior cardiologist Prof Dr Shahid Nawaz Malik.

Eyewitnesses in the country are already scared of appearing before the courts, especially in terrorism cases, due to the lack of safety and protection. The police either victimise the witnesses or leak their identifications.

There is no law for the safety and protection of the eyewitness, so a majority of them never appear in the courts. As a result, most of the suspects, including militants and terrorists, are acquitted by the courts due to the lack of evidence.

Soon after the attack on Prof Malik at Pims on Saturday, the capital police prepared the sketch of the attacker with the help of an eyewitness. Later, his name and mobile number were mentioned in the sketch which was not only distributed among the police of other districts but also shared with the media.

When a senior police officer was contacted for his comments on the matter, he admitted the blunder and said it had put the life of the witness at risk. However, he held the low-ranking officers of the police responsible for the blunder.

When contacted, the eyewitness said the investigators had put his and his family’s life at risk. “By sharing my details with the media, the police want to get me killed,” he added.

“For the last two days, I have been receiving threatening calls. The attackers can get other details about me, including my CNIC number and address through my mobile number, and plan my assassination.”

He said the police would be responsible if he or his family members were targeted.

Meanwhile, the sketch of the attacker showed that he was wearing a mask and was about 5.5 feet tall and of fair complexion. He was 22 to 25 years old.

It may be noted that soon after the attack on Prof Malik, IGP Tahir Alam Khan also acted unprofessionally and announced to the media that the doctor had died. He made the announcement without confirming it from the doctors treating the injured. Later, he also announced that one of the attackers had been arrested.

The two statements brought embracement to the police department and also annoyed the doctors and the hospital administration.

Sources in the police said so far the investigators remained clueless about the attacker and the reason behind the attack.

The police have got information that Prof Malik had ran into a quarrel with one of his patients at a private clinic in Islamabad. The patient had threatened him of dire consequences over an issue of his treatment.

An official at the private clinic on the condition of anonymity confirmed to Dawn that the patient had some issue with Prof Malik but he had quarrel with the clinic administration not with the professor. The sources said the investigators considered the patient as a suspect.

Published in Dawn February 18th , 2015

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