RAWALPINDI: In a top-level investigation, the Regional Investigation Branch (RIB) has found out that the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and the Pindigheb SHO had falsely implicated three brothers of a slain man in drugs-related cases allegedly to pressure them into dropping the murder charges against the suspects involved in the murder.

Muhammad Rafiq’s brother Safar Khan was murdered in April 2023 and a case against the suspects was registered at the Attock City police station.

“We lost our brother [one year ago] and now we have been avoiding coming out of our houses because of the police which have made it impossible for our entire family to live. One of our brothers – Mohammad Zeeshan has obtained a pre-arrest bail to avoid the police,” Muhammad Rafiq told Dawn.

After failing to get justice from the local police, Muhammad Rafiq approached former regional police officer (RPO) Syed Khurram Ali. Following his complaint, the former RPO assigned the inquiry to Rawalpindi RIB AIG Arif Shahbaz Khan.

Inquiry holds Pindigheb DSP, SHO responsible for falsely implicating three brothers in drug cases

The inquiry, containing the statements of the DSP, the SHO, and Muhammad Rafiq, a resident of Aminabad Attock, has found that none of the three brothers was involved in drug cases and recommended a regular departmental inquiry against the SHO and DSP/SDPO of Pindigheb because the charges levelled against them were of serious nature.

Muhammad Rafiq said in his complaint to former RPO that on April 28, 2023, Hamad and Tariq along with others shot his brother dead over a dispute and a case was registered against the killing. Hamad was arrested on June 18, 2023. Tariq, however, had been declared a proclaimed offender.

‘Pressure’ to drop charges

The brothers were allegedly asked to reconcile but upon refusal, they were booked in multiple cases. On November 17, 2023, Mohammad Shafiq was booked by the Attock City police, and on November 18, Mr Rafiq was also booked at the same police station. The police picked up their brother Zeeshan and booked him in a drugs case at Attock’s Basal police station in December last year.

The registration of cases against them on drug charges had made it impossible for them to pursue the murder case against the suspects who gunned down their brother Safar Khan.

At that time, RPO Rawalpindi Syed Khurram instructed the Regional Investigation Branch to conduct a high-level inquiry and submit a report.

According to the sources, the inquiry team after summoning the investigation officers, including the complainant along with the records. After reviewing all the records, the statements of the officers and personnel were recorded.

During the inquiry, the then SHO Sajjad Haider referred to ‘a voice call recording’ and took the position that his subordinate staff was threatened by the accused. But when the inquiry officer inquired about the legal action taken on these threats, SHO Sajjad Haider gave no response. The SHO could not present any evidence in connection with his claim.

In the report sent to the RPO Rawalpindi, the inquiry team expressed serious reservations. It said the cases filed against the plaintiff and his brothers for drug offences at different times “raised several questions and were themselves a big question mark”.

Similarly, when the SHO takes the position that the applicant threatened his subordinate staff, instead of taking legal action against him, the mysterious silence of the SHO also points to the truth of the position of the affected applicant.

According to the inquiry, there was no record of involvement in any drug-related case against the three brothers, but by implicating them in different cases, it appeared that the police officers and staff were biased. It further said that there “are very serious allegations against the DSP and the SHO, so a regular departmental inquiry should be conducted against them so that the demands of justice could be met”.

When contacted, Muhammad Rafiq told Dawn that all “brothers work hard and the accused have influenced the police. The police used to call us to the police station and harass us. Now his brothers are trying to get bail from the court to avoid the police”.

Newly posted RPO Babar Sarfraz Alpa was contacted, but neither the RPO nor the official spokesperson gave a response in this regard. However, the spokesperson said that the inquiry report had been sent to the DPO Attock for further proceedings.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2024