GUJRAT/ LAHORE: Investigation into the ghastly Hafizabad gang-rape took a new turn on Friday when two policemen were arrested for freeing an alleged rapist after taking bribe a few days after the April 25 incident.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), on the other hand, has placed the names of two of the four alleged rapists who assaulted a married girl in front of her husband, on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) following reports that they were trying to escape abroad.

According to an FIR lodged with the Kassoki police station of Hafizabad district, Hameedpura police picket in-charge ASI Kashif Mehmood came to know about the gang-rape well before its went public and arrested suspect Laiq Maqsood.

The ASI did not let the senior police officers know about the arrest of the suspect as well as the incident. In the meanwhile, a senior colleague Inspector Muneeb Liaqat, a cousin of another suspect Ikram, approached the ASI for the release of Laiq. Both policemen struck a deal for Rs140,000 in cash that was paid to the ASI who freed the suspect without bringing his arrest on record.

When the suspects shared a video of the act, which went viral on social media, Hafizabad district police took notice on June 3 and registered a case against eight suspects, including four nominated — Ikram, Laiq, Chand and Khawar — of Mangat Ucha village.

FIA places names of two suspects on PNIL

During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that one of the suspects had earlier been detained and later released by the ASI after striking a deal which was a grave example of misconduct, negligence and corruption.

The Kassoki police station have now registered a case against both the policemen under section 155C of Police Order 2002 and started investigation.

M Khawar, another suspect, had earlier been killed by the alleged firing of his own accomplices during `an encounter’ with the CCD near Jorian bridge of Hafizabad district on Thursday last.

PNIL: The Provisional National Identification List is maintained by the FIA to prevent the travel or escape of individuals involved in “heinous crimes”.

The FIA has asked airports and other law enforcement agencies managing international borders to check the movement of the suspects and alert them when the suspects are spotted.

The alleged rapists placed on the PNIL have been identified as Chand and Ikram Mangat.

An official told Dawn that the names of the two alleged rapists were placed on the PNIL when Hafizabad DPO approached the IGP with a request to ask the FIA to expedite it urgently.

He said that process was initiated by the DPO soon after two other key suspects, including Laiq and M Khawar, wanted in the case were allegedly killed in “police encounters” and the reports suggested that the others had gone underground.

The official said Khawar was allegedly killed in “an encounter” by the Crime Control Department (CCD) within 24 hours while Laiq was allegedly killed “in an encounter” with the local police late on Thursday night.

The official said Laiq was said to be the mastermind of the gang rape and he and his accomplice M Khawar were killed in the jurisdiction of Kassoki police.

Of them, Khawar, was running a puncture shop while Laiq was a rickshaw driver.

He said Laiq had intercepted the couple on April 25 and then called his accomplices to the spot.

He had blackmailed the young girl and her husband and then took them to a deserted location of Mangat where they gang-raped her and then forced her husband to repeat the same act in front of mobile phone cameras.

The official went on to say that the suspects made many video clips and threatened the couple to upload them on social media for reporting the gang rape to the police.

He said the terrified couple had initially decided that they would not report the matter to the police or their family members.

However, on June 2, Hafizabad DPO Atif Nazeer received a link of the video clip on his mobile phone and immediately sent it to his SP to trace the victims and contact them to file a complaint.

As the police managed to reach the family, the victim girl refused to go for criminal proceedings.

Later, the DPO himself met the couple, held discussions for a couple of hours and managed to convince them for filing the case.

The police lodged the FIR against the rapists on the complaint of the girl’s husband.

To another question, he said the process of identification of four unknown suspects was in process.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2025