ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police allegedly weakened an FIR and let Rawalpindi police officials go after an illegal raid in G-8 Markaz in which a local trader was shot and injured.

Two dozen Rawalpindi police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad personnel, raided G-8 Markaz on Wednesday and arrested a man at a vehicle showroom, according to police, G-8 Markaz traders and G-8 traders’ union general secretary Mohammad Waseem Abbasi.

The showroom was established by Shabqadar native Zulfikar Ali, an investor in a number of showrooms in the market who owns land and a fuel station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His relative was at the showroom to see him when the police raided the establishment and arrested him.

Police and traders said more than 24 police officials in Punjab police and ATS uniforms arrived in four vehicles. Four to six policemen entered the showroom and arrested Zulfikar’s relative, they said.

At the time, Zulfikar and his brother Usman Ali were outside, heading towards a tea stall, they said. Rawalpindi police fired at Usman, shooting him three times.

Speaking to Dawn, traders – including neighbours of the showroom in question – said that two police officials reached Usman and asked for his name. They said the police shouted that they had hit the wrong man and asked to leave after Usman identified himself.

Zulfikar approached the police with his complaint, but they did not entertain him, the traders claimed. Some of the policemen left shortly after.

The traders alleged that in the meantime, the police officials who arrested Zulfikar’s relative stole Rs1 million and files for three vehicles from the showroom and left. Soon after, a number of traders gathered in the area and caught the remaining Rawalpindi police officials, including the Rawat station house officer (SHO).

The Islamabad police took the remaining Rawalpindi police officials to the station, and Usman was taken to a hospital.

Traders from the market claimed they staged a protest, setting tyres on fire and shouting slogans against the Rawalpindi police.

They said Zulfikar tried to lodge a complaint to register an FIR with the Karachi Company police, but officials refused to entertain it. The traders then reached the station and cordoned it off, shouting slogans against the Islamabad police for protecting their counterparts in Rawalpindi.

The Karachi Company have taken a complaint from Usman and registered a case, the traders said. A copy of the FIR was handed over to the traders around 5am.

The traders have, however, objected to the ‘weak’ FIR, which does not nominate the police officials by name even though they were identified, or make any mention of the illegal raid by Rawalpindi police.

A police officer told Dawn the raid was illegal, as the Rawat police did not inform the Karachi Company police about it. The officer said that the police’s claims that they were after robbers was vague, as the injured man, his brother and their visitor were businesspeople.

Although an attempted murder case was registered against officials from the Rawalpindi police, the officer and traders said no one was nominated in the FIR.

They added that the police officials were also freed.

When asked if the Rawat police had notified them of the raid and fulfilled the legal requirements by producing documentation in this regard at the station, Karachi Company SHO Sub-Inspector (SI) Habibur Rehman said: “There is no law or any legal requirement to inform local police about the raid.”

When asked if the Rawat police had informed senior officers about the action, SI Rehman said an inquiry was conducted by their senior officers to establish this.

The SHO said that the man the Rawalpindi police were there to arrest is suspected of being involved in a robbery. He added the man escaped, but that he had learned that he would obtain bail and appear before investigators.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan has ordered an inquiry into the Rawat police raid.

A spokesperson for the CPO said it had been reported that the police faced resistance while trying to arrest a suspect in a recent heist near Rawat.

When Mr Ahsan was contacted by Dawn, he said he had appointed the senior superintendent of police operations to conduct an inquiry and ascertain the facts.

He said the inquiry team would ascertain why the raiding team did not inform Islamabad police prior to the raid, and why the raid was conducted in haste.

He also said the police should not have fired gunshots. He said that while the victim is in stable condition, the police should always be careful using firearms.

He hoped that the fact-finding inquiry would be completed by Thursday evening and strict departmental action will be taken if anyone is found guilty.

— Mohammad Asghar also contributed to this story.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2019