ISLAMABAD: The capital police on Tuesday said that the rape incident at Trail 3 of Margalla Hills was “fabricated” as it was engineered to settle scores and for alleged blackmailing.

The police claimed that the nominated accused in the rape case quarrelled with a man who consequently hired a gang to take revenge. These two persons worked at the same office, located in Rawalpindi, where a tiff over some issue led to a quarrel between them, the police’s statement added.

The statement claimed that a five-member gang, including two women, was hired for the job. Subsequently, a resident of Sheikhupura was approached and a plan was hatched to take the man – against whom rape allegations were levelled – to the hiking trail and frame him for sexual assault.

As per the details of the alleged plan shared by the police, after the woman would raise a hue and cry, the other three members of the gang, impersonating a journalist and a policeman, would approach the couple to film them. The gang members wanted to extort money from the rape suspect by blackmailing him through the video. But the plan could not be materialised as the Sheikhupura woman returned to Rawalpindi after other gang members did not reach the spot in time.

Claim five-member gang was hired to settle vendetta;two detained

Subsequently, she approached the police and got a rape case registered against the nominated suspect and then went back to Sheikhupura.

According to the police, the complainant was taken to a magistrate where she narrated this alleged plan. They alleged the woman was already nominated in two criminal cases in Sheikhupura and Muridke.

One of the gang members also has a criminal record, they said, adding that two persons, including the woman, had been arrested, while efforts to arrest the remaining members were underway.

Last week, a woman hailing from Sheikhupura claimed she was raped after the suspect lured her on the pretext of arranging employment. A case was later registered with Kohsar police station against the suspect in response to the complaint.

According to the FIR, the alleged victim had been looking for a job for the last two months when she received a message from the man, claiming that he was an accountant at an education department where some vacancies were available.

He asked for an amount of Rs50,000 from her, saying that he could get her the job, the FIR said. Following this, the woman reached Rawalpindi from her native town on July 12 and stayed at her relative’s house in Rawalpindi. The same day the man met her at Tench Bhatta in Rawalpindi where she gave him an amount of Rs30,000 and her CV.

The FIR further said that it was decided that the remaining amount of Rs20,000 would be paid once she got the appointment letter. The man further told her that a senior officer would conduct her interview and therefore she would have to meet him.

The man said the officer would get familiar with her and select her without any objection after the meeting, the FIR said, adding that on July 13, the man picked her up from Tench Bhatta and took her to Trail 3 on a motorcycle.

The suspect then reached a wooded area where he raped her at gunpoint, the FIR said, adding that he also threatened her with dire consequences. The suspect later dropped her at Tench Bhatta and left.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023