BAHAWALPUR: Three police constables of the City Police Station Burewala were booked and two were arrested for blackmailing a trader while impersonating Crime Control Department (CCD) officials, threatening to kill him in a CCD encounter and extorting thousands of rupees from him.

According to the office of Vehari District Police Officer Muhammad Afzal, constables Waqas Yaseen, Rizwan and Umar Daraz, impersonated as CCD officials and kidnapped Salman Khan, a wholesale supplier of a tea brand in the area, on Sept 23 in their car in which they also consumed ice and heroin.

They kept him in illegal custody in the car and drove on various roads for over four hours as they demanded Rs0.5m from him.

They threatened him that if he did not pay the amount, he would be killed in an encounter.

The complainant paid the suspects Rs74,000 cash in presence of his witnesses while they snatched another Rs9,000 from his pocket and released from near Tableeghi Markaz, Burewala.

On receiving a complaint against the constables, the Vehari DPO asked City Police Burewala to register an FIR.

Later, Waqas Yaseen and Rizwan Khan were arrested and they were put behind the lock-up while Umar Daraz is still at large.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2025