ISLAMABAD: A day after a police team ‘mistakenly’ raided the residence of PTI chief Barrister Gohar Ali Khan in Sector F-7, the police suspended at least five officials, including the Margallah police station SHO, after finding ‘sufficient proof’ that the police officials raided the house of the lawyer.

According to a notification issued by the DPO City, five officials had been suspended from their duties till further orders. Along with SHO Haider Ali, Sub Inspector Mansabdar, constables Sajjad and Tahir, and Shabana were suspended for the raid.

“Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Akbar Nasir Khan has appointed the DPO City as an inquiry officer with a direction to take strict action against the responsible police officials. The DPO has suspended five officials who were involved in the raid,” he said.

Divisional Police Officer (DPO) City Abdul Aleem Khan has been appointed as an inquiry officer with a direction to submit a detailed report within three days. According to the police spokesperson, the police raided the house on Saturday to arrest a proclaimed offender (PO) from a house located in Sector F-7/2, but the team came back after it realised that the residence belonged to the PTI chairman.

Insider terms action a formality, says raid could not have taken place without approval of high-ups

Speaking to Dawn, a police insider contested the official narrative and said it was not possible that the police team was unaware of the residence of the PTI chairman.

“Every police station maintains a register in which addresses of all important personalities, residing in the limits of the police station, are written. I am sure that the police deliberately raided the house of Mr Gohar, who was in the Supreme Court at that time. The message behind the raid was ‘loud and clear’ that they don’t care about both Mr Gohar and the Supreme Court,” the police official claimed on the condition of anonymity.

He further said that the suspension of police officials was “just a formality”, as no senior police officer was suspended for the raid, which could not have taken place without the approval of the senior police officials. “Such raids cannot be conducted without bypassing the high-ups and getting the search warrant from the magistrate. However, it is not known whether the police bothered to get a search warrant,” he said.

On Saturday, the police raided the house of Gohar Ali Khan, followed by ‘contradictory’ statements issued by the department. Initially, it distanced itself from the raid, but after a video went viral on social media, the police accepted the responsibility for the raid but said the team did not know about the residence.

The raid occurred when the PTI chairman was in the Supreme Court for a hearing. He informed the chief justice that the police raided his house, roughed up his son, and also stole a laptop and some documents from his residence. The court summoned the police chief as a result, who also visited the residence of the PTI chairman.

Talking to the media outside the PTI chairman’s house on Saturday, the police chief said that under the directives of the top court, he visited the house of Barrister Gohar Ali Khan to meet him and hear his complaint. “A police team is also examining the crime scene because of his complaint,” he said, adding that the SP City was supervising the team investigating the incident.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2024