Bahawalpur police look for suspect linked to ‘cocaine queen’ network

Published May 16, 2026
This image shows Anmol alias Pinky arriving in court on May 12 in Karachi. — DawnNewsTV
This image shows Anmol alias Pinky arriving in court on May 12 in Karachi. — DawnNewsTV

BAHAWALPUR: Following the revelations by cocaine trafficker Ms Anmol alias Pinki, who is in Karachi police’s custody, that one of her countrywide drug supply network’s member, Tahir Saleem, belonged to Hasilpur, Bahawalpur district, the district as well as regional police have swung into action to nab the suspect.

The district and regional police officials in Bahawalpur confirmed to Dawn that Tahir Saleem hailed from Hasilpur and was allegedly a drug trafficker.

District police spokesperson Naeem Ahmed confirmed to Dawn that Tahir Saleem was a resident of Chak No 16-Fordwah in Hasilpur tehsil.

Quoting Hasilpur police officials, he said that Tahir later shifted to Chak 62-Fateh in Hasilpur tehsil, but he left the place too.

According toHaji Saqib Ajmal, the PRO of the regional police officer, Tahir had moved to Lahore, where on Oct 27, 2019, a drug trafficking case (FIR No.1334/19) was registered against him at Liaquatabad police station of Lahore district, under the relevant sections of the Control of Narcotics Substances Act, 1997, on the complaint of one Muahmmad Qaidar Jan, an official of Wahdat Colony police station.

In the FIR (a copy obtained by Dawn), it was mentioned that Tahir Saleem supplied narcotics to the students of educational institutions. He was arrested during a raid near RS Pulli, Lahore. The police had recovered over two kilogram charas from his possession.

The FIR also carried Tahir’s initial statement in which he confessed to have worked for Ms Pinki.

The police say that further scrutiny of Tahir’s criminal records was in progress.

Bodies: The Mailsi Police of Vehari district claimed to have recovered the bodies of a mother and her three children from a house in Fatehpur on Friday.

A DPO’s spokesperson told Dawn by phone that on receiving the information, police teams led by DPO Tassawar Iqbal rushed to the scene and inspected it. A forensic team and crime scene unit officials were already present to collect evidence, he added.

He said the deceased were identified as Surraya Bibi (30) Hassan (8), Dilshad (7) and Asad (3). Dawn learnt that the mother and her three minor sons were axed to death.

The spokesperson said that the victim’s husband had been taken into custody for interrogation. However, the motive of the murders could not be ascertained and police teams were investigating the matter from all aspects.

He said the dead bodies were being shifted to the Mailsi THQ Hospital for postmortem and the FIR was yet to be registered as the incident came to light a few hours ago.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2026

Opinion

Editorial

Resurgent threat
Updated 30 Jun, 2026

Resurgent threat

THE message from Islamabad to Kabul seems to be clear: any act of terrorism inside Pakistan found to be linked to...
Unchecked powers
30 Jun, 2026

Unchecked powers

THERE is little disagreement that Punjab needs stronger tools to combat organised crime, habitual offenders and...
Patriot Pass
30 Jun, 2026

Patriot Pass

IT must be a shared humanity that has bonded the ‘leader of the free world’ so closely with his counterparts in...
‘Missing’ LGs
29 Jun, 2026

‘Missing’ LGs

Across the world, successful civic governance is made possible through effective, responsive local bodies, which are closest to the voter.
Audit or ritual?
29 Jun, 2026

Audit or ritual?

THE AGP’s latest audit report of federal civil accounts is a detailed record of governance failures and...
Al Aqsa under threat
29 Jun, 2026

Al Aqsa under threat

NOT satisfied with the genocidal violence it has unleashed in Gaza, the current Israeli administration is doing all...