ISLAMABAD, July 5: City police arrested a convicted and two under-trial prisoners (UTP) from Adiala Jail on Tuesday for trying to befool the judiciary to gain freedom.

Islamabads Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) cracked the weird case on a complaint from Judicial Magistrate Rai Liaquat Ali Kharal that a man posing as the Registrar of the Supreme Court asked him on phone to quash the case against one of the UTPs.

Both the UTPs, identified by their initials UG and AN, were being tried in a case involving bad cheques while FAS, already serving a sentence for impersonating as judicial officers, is accused of trying the same trick for AN.

All three are now in police remand. CIA investigations established that the mobile phone used by FAS for playing the hoax was sold to MA, a resident of Quaid-i-Azam Colony, Rawalpindi, by a trader identified as SK. But before handing the phone to the buyer, SK handed it to UG, his cousin in the jail.

Police suspect UG did not let his name figure in the fraudulent attempt to gain freedom because, as co-accused, he would have been freed too if the attempt had worked for AN.

According to the details of the complex fraud, on June 23, Judicial Magistrate Rai Liquat Ali Kharal told Margalla police that the impersonator asked him to quash three cases of cheque dishonour against two accused and release them.

He had stated that the Superintendent of Session Court gave him a cellphone number with a “direction from the SC registrar” to talk on it.

When the call was made, the receiver inquired about the two undertrial prisoners (UTPs) and the status of cases against them. However, the receiver asked the magistrate to quash cases against the two UTPs.

The demand raised suspicion.

When SC Registrar Fakir Hussain was contacted through the District and Sessions Judge, Islamabad, he denied making any call to the superintendent or asking to quash the cases.

The two accused were booked and arrested by Industrial Area police in 2008 and three cases of cheque dishonour were registered against them.

Because of the sensitivity, the probe was handed over to CIA. The probe revealed that the SIM with number 0315-5339165 was issued to a resident of Quaid-i-Azam Colony in Rawalpindi. He told investigators that the SIM was given to him by a businessman who operates from Mall Road in Rawalpindi. The trader told the police that the SIM was under the use of his cousin, a resident of Murree, who was imprisoned in Adiala Jail.

The cousin was one of the UTPs for whom the call was made to the magistrate for his release and disposing of the case.

The two UTPs told police that another prisoner, a doctor, impersonated the SC registrar on their request and made the call to the magistrate.

With the help of jail's officials, the CIA police recovered the mobile phone and SIM from inside the jail.

Investigators said the doctor had already been convicted for impersonating the SC registrar and making calls to a sessions judge and a special judge Central Jail, Rawalpindi. Cases were registered against him with the Airport and Civil Lines police stations in Rawalpindi.

Police have registered a case on the charges of PPC 419 and 25-D Telegraph Act against the three prisoners.

Opinion

Editorial

Border clashes
19 May, 2024

Border clashes

THE Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier has witnessed another series of flare-ups, this time in the Kurram tribal district...
Penalising the dutiful
19 May, 2024

Penalising the dutiful

DOES the government feel no remorse in burdening honest citizens with the cost of its own ineptitude? With the ...
Students in Kyrgyzstan
Updated 19 May, 2024

Students in Kyrgyzstan

The govt ought to take a direct approach comprising convincing communication with the students and Kyrgyz authorities.
Ominous demands
Updated 18 May, 2024

Ominous demands

The federal government needs to boost its revenues to reduce future borrowing and pay back its existing debt.
Property leaks
18 May, 2024

Property leaks

THE leaked Dubai property data reported on by media organisations around the world earlier this week seems to have...
Heat warnings
18 May, 2024

Heat warnings

STARTING next week, the country must brace for brutal heatwaves. The NDMA warns of severe conditions with...