LAHORE: Gulberg police have arrested two women, including a lady doctor, for allegedly blackmailing, torturing and recording objectionable videos of a businessman in a hotel room where he had been called to settle a business matter with the owner of a private company.

A deputy attorney general of Punjab is also reportedly involved in the case and police officials are investigating the extent of his involvement in the honey trap incident.

According to the FIR registered by Gulberg police, Sohail Mahmood of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) was in business with Awais, the owner of a well-known company (Bio Amla). Mahmood claimed that Awais had been delaying payment owed to him.

A man named Waseem then contacted Mahmood and arranged a meeting with a woman, who introduced herself as Dr Maham.

On 20 Aug, the doctor called Mahmood, asking him to meet her at a hotel near Firdous Market in Gulberg to resolve the business matter.

“As I reached the hotel, the lady doctor met me at the reception and then took me to a room on the 4th floor,” reads the FIR lodged by Mahmood.

Mahmood stated that the lady doctor asked him to wait for a man from an agency who was supposedly on his way. Shortly after, a woman entered the room and introduced herself as Urooj. Moments later, an unidentified man entered, and the group, including the man and the lady doctor, locked the room and attacked him.

The lady doctor then snatched Mahmood’s purse, which contained his CNIC, a membership card of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce, Rs11,000, and the keys to his car, which was parked in the hotel’s lot. According to the FIR, the lady doctor later took his car as well.

Mahmood also stated that the unidentified man forced him to engage in physical relations with Urooj. The suspects stripped him and recorded an objectionable video with the woman, also taking swabs of his sperm as evidence. After completing the task, they fled.

Mahmood raised the issue with senior hotel management, but they refused to assist him.

Lahore Operations DIG Faisal Kamran said that after the victim reported it, the SHO visited the hotel to verify the businessman’s allegations. The SHO spoke with hotel staff, reviewed security camera footage, and, after verifying the incident, filed an FIR against the suspects, including the two women.

When asked about the unknown man involved in the attack, Kamran revealed that he was a deputy attorney general.

Gulberg police have transferred the case to the investigation wing for further inquiry.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2024