ISLAMABAD: Police have registered two separate cases after officials of Islamabad and Rawalpindi police were found involved in honey trapping citizens and extorting cash from them through coercion and threats of ‘legal action’.

The police said that the preliminary investigation revealed that the officials of the capital and Rawalpindi police formed separate gangs to extort money from men by luring them into a trap using girls. As per their modus operandi, the girls would invite men for a ‘date’ using social media apps, and then the policemen would arrive on the scene to demand money in exchange for letting them go without legal action.

In the federal capital, a case was registered at the Shalimar police station under sections 382 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code in response to a complaint lodged by ASI Mehmood Amjad.

Subsequently, two police officials stationed with the Dolphin Squad and a girl were arrested for legal action.

According to a police officer, a police team, while patrolling F-10/2, spotted two police officials dealing with two men in the presence of a girl. When the patrolling team approached them, the police officials started acting suspiciously. The men informed the police patrol that the policemen extorted cash and mobile phones from them and also demanded a hefty amount. Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that they had come to meet the girl at Margalla Road when two police officials appeared and threatened to take them to a police station for legal action. Later, they took them to Street 8 in F-10/2 and looted cash and mobile phones from them. The policemen also asked them to arrange more money.

Subsequently, all of them were taken to the police station, where it was revealed that the girl would befriend men using social media platforms and invite them for a date, where the suspects would blackmail them for money. The mobile numbers of the two police officers were also found in the call log and contact list of the girl.

In a similar activity, the Sangjani police booked officials of the Rawalpindi police under sections 392 and 365 of the PPC in response to a complaint lodged by one of the victims.

The police said that the victim, a resident of Kohat, befriended a girl on WhatsApp who asked him to come to Islamabad to meet her.

In response, he and his friend reached Sara-i-Kharboza on G.T.Road. He met the girl, and in the meantime, three persons, two of them in the uniform of Punjab police, appeared and started alleging that they had trapped the girls.

The police officials held them at gunpoint and started searching them and also took their mobile phones and Rs20,000 from them.

The complainant and his friend were handcuffed and bundled into a vehicle by the officials. Later, one of the officials drove their car while the other vehicle followed and they roamed around G.T.

Road. The suspects also asked them to arrange more money. The victim and his friend sought help from the police after coming across a police patrol near B-17.

The police official driving the victim’s car stopped the car and embarked on the vehicle driven by his accomplices and fled.

During preliminary investigation, the two police officials were identified as constables of the Rawalpindi police.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2025