TOBA TEK SINGH: The Motorway M-4 gang-rape incident has turned out to be a blackmailing act of an inter-district gang.

DSP Mian Waqar Ahmed told a press conference on Thursday in Gojra that in an FIR, complainant woman Shaheen Akhtar, of Toba Tek Singh, stated on Oct 21 that her 18-year-old niece Irumun Nisa had allegedly been gang-raped on motorway M-4 on Oct 11 by two people in a car during travelling from Gojra to Faisalabad.

The DSP added that the complainant had alleged that her niece who lived with her, was offered a job at a boutique by Laiba and when the complainant and her niece came to Gojra on Oct 11 for her interview as were told through a mobile phone message, Laiba and her two accomplices, Hammad and Rehman, both of Chak 288 JB, took her niece by a car to Faisalabad for the interview and during travelling, they gang-raped her.

The DSP also said the FIR added that the accused later dropped her at Faisalabad interchange from where she returned to Gojra by a van.

Later, the police arrested both accused men and the car was also impounded; however, during investigation, it was revealed that all the action was a drama to extort money from rich people and both the complainant and the alleged victim were actually members of the blackmailing gang.

He disclosed that Iramun Nisa was not the niece of complainant Shaheen Akhtar. He added that the gang members cooked up rape stories and extorted money from people.

He said Shaheen and Irumun Nisa and their other gang members Muhammad Ansar, Wasif Ali and their accomplice women had been arrested who have confessed to blackmailing a number of people.

Forensic analysis: The five suspects in the case of stripping and torturing four women were taken to Lahore by Faisalabad’s Millat Town police investigation officer Akbar Ali for the forensic analysis of audio and video clips made viral on social media.

Faisalabad CPO’s spokesperson Syed Muneeb Ahsan told Dawn on Thursday the five suspects, including a store owner of Yousaf Chowk market, were arrested on Dec 6 after an FIR was registered against them for beating and stripping the women.

He said after the Punjab forensics agency send a report regarding the analysis of audio and video clips, the investigation will be completed for the submission of challan against the accused persons in the court.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2021