FAISALABAD: Six policemen of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), including Madina Town head, were suspended from service on charges of receiving Rs15m from the persons involved in hundi business and set them free.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Bilal Siddique Kamyana summoned today (Saturday) both the suspected policemen and the persons arrested by them.

Sources told Dawn that CIA Madina Town head Ahmed Muneel Shah along with his subordinates had taken five people into custody on charges of involvement in hundi business. The raiding team also seized the foreign currency worth Rs15m.

The suspects were shifted to an undisclosed location and interrogated without the knowledge of any senior police officer. After ‘bargaining’, the sources said, all the suspects were released and the police kept the seized money as bribe. When the issue came into the knowledge of the senior officers, they asked the CIA head Superintendent of Police Nasir Sial to probe the issue.

During the probe, the sources said, the SP found some wrongdoings of his subordinates which led to their suspension. Besides Muneel Shah, the suspended persons were ASI Asad and constables Ishfaq, Shahid, Sufiyan and Majid.

“The police have no authority to deal with the hundi business as it is the jurisdiction of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). If the CIA had caught some people doing the hundi business, they must have informed the seniors so that suspects could be handed over to the FIA but the suspected policemen had done otherwise and struck a deal with the criminals,” an officer said.

He added now efforts were being made by both sides–the accused CIA employees and persons involved in Hundi business– to favour each other rather than disclosing anything before the officers. He added the CIA employees would face major penalties and issue if the hundi matter would be referred to the FIA that would book the persons involved in the illegal business.

No case has been registered against the suspended policemen yet while the police have no authority to arrest the persons involved in hundi business.

Talking to Dawn, CPO Athar Ismail said action against the suspended policemen was taken on the news report in the media and added that the police had not found any tangible proof of any such happening yet as was reported in the media.

Muneel Shah had been earlier penalised by the former City Police Officer Afzaal Kausar on charges of illegally detaining a man, identified as Rana Asim, and releasing him after taking bribe.

Asim was taken into custody on charge of his alleged connection with a person believed to be involved in the killing of Sub-Inspector Rana Arif. Later, inquiry found Asim innocent and released by the senior officers.

SP CIA Nasir Sial said six employees had been suspended and a regular departmental inquiry had been initiated against them under the DSP CIA. He said strict accountability of the employees was being ensured and nobody would be allowed to misuse the authority.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2017