LAHORE: Information minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan has come up with a unique defence that the chief minister’s news conference along with some ministers and inspector general of Punjab police (IGP) to announce the escape of motorway gang rape suspect was a “tactful move”.

Telling that those held the press conference knew what was the motive and what results attained, the information minister told a news conference at Alhamra Hall that the chief minister’s presser served as a basis to arrest main suspect Abid Malhi’s accomplice and co-suspect Shafqat.

“At the CM press conference, we announced Rs2.5 million prize money for helping find the suspect and eventually Shafqat’s relatives and close circle helped police arrest Waqarul Hassan,” he said and claimed that Hassan did not court arrest.

Mr Chohan said Waqar was introduced through the press conference, who then told the investigators about suspects Shafqat, Mistry Bala and Abbas that led to Shafqat’s arrest.

“We had traced Waqar through geo-fencing, when he was in contact with main suspect Abid Malhi for three hours,” the minister said but could not explain why the suspect had not been arrested for the past one week.

Chohan says survivor identifies the suspects as ‘culprits’

The minister said the police had completed its investigation through DNA sampling, geo-fencing, Nadra investigations and 28 police teams.

“The police are just close to the main suspect and he will soon be arrested. We have arrested Abid Malhi’s both wives, father, brother and other family members,” he told the media persons.

On the other hand, the second wife of Malhi, who was taken into custody from Manga Mandi, told the investigators that she and her husband watched the press conference and Abid managed his escape thereafter.

The minister also claimed that the victim identified both Abid and Shafqat as culprits.

The minister also announced that the police, meanwhile, arrested a boy and his father for harassing a girl and his family on social media for the past over one year.

He said the girl’s father had lodged complaint with the FIA cyber crime branch but it remained inactive to take the case to a logical end.

Flanked by CCPO Umer Sheikh and ASP Dr Raza Tanvir, the minister said the police identified and arrested the suspect from Rawalpindi and his father from Lahore within 10 hours and sent them behind bars.

The girl’s father lashed out at the FIA and police’s performance telling that he was running from pillar to post for the past 15 months but his depression multiplied after every visit.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2020