FAISALABAD, May 6: The government agencies have failed to find any clue to Asim Yousaf, a clerk at the local excise and taxation department, who was allegedly arrested by police and released after paying Rs1.4 million as bribe in October last year.
Following the arrest of Asim’s wife Sonia Naz from the National Assembly where she claimed to have gone inadvertently and her subsequent release, the provincial and federal hierarchy of police and administration had ordered immediate recovery of the missing clerk. However, none of the agencies have made any headway so far.
Ms Naz had earlier accused the investigation police, including SP Abdullah Khalid, of receiving Rs1.4 million bribe and demanding even more money for the release of her husband.
She said Asim was in police custody since October last, but now they were denying having arrested him.
Faisalabad Range DIG Sajjad Ahmad had also deputed SSP (Regional Investigation) Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan to probe the matter. However, the probe could not be started as the SSP claimed that Ms Naz could not be contacted so far for recording her statement.
A police spokesman, however, stated that SP Khalid had told DPO Muhammad Amin Wains that he had no information about Asim’s arrest.
An official of the excise and taxation department told Dawn on the request of anonymity that Asim, along with three other employees — Rana Shahid, Nasrullah and Muhammad Tariq — had disappeared after the registration of a fraud case against 14 people in June last year.
He said the police rounded up excise inspector Javed Iqbal and clerks, Omar Saleem, Abdul Waheed and Muhammad Arif, who were formally charged for tampering with the official record for illegal gains.
However, the remaining suspects, including Asim, joined the police investigation on the guarantees of some influential figures. The inquiry team did not enter their arrests and conducted interrogation at secret places.
The police allegedly freed the detenus several times, but again arrested them later to complete investigation.
The excise official said the police team visited their office 17 times and took away 221 files of vehicle registration books on the information provided by Asim and other clerks. Asim was also taken to the local excise office many times by the police to trace some related files, he added.
“We have been asked by our superiors to cooperate with the police without making formal entries into the record about the arrest of officials and delivery of registration files.
“The police freed Asim and other accused after taking bribe and he had either gone to tribal areas or slipped abroad to avoid police action,” he said.
The motor registration authority ETO also mentioned in an official report that Asim was working in the office on June 4, 2004, when a police team arrested two officials — Javed Iqbal Babar and Omar Saleem Alvi — for tampering with the official record and registering lifted vehicles on forged documents.
A case was registered against 14 people and the police sent four of them to jail and declared six others innocent. Four accused, including Asim, were still at large according to the police record.
SP Abdullah Khalid, in his report on the scam, claimed that a case was registered under sections 109, 400, 401, 409, 420, 467, 468 and 471 PPC on the application of Muhammad Nadeem against ETO Farman Masood, inspector Javed Iqbal, clerks — Omar Saleem, Abdul Waheed, Muhammad Arif, Rana Shahid, Asim Yousaf, Nasrullah, Muhammad Tariq, Altaf Husain, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Asif Bhatti, Saeed Anwar and Muhammad Yousaf Gujjar.
The SP quoted the complainant as saying that the accused officials were running a gang with the assistance of vehicle lifters and were registering stolen vehicles on genuine documents provided by the people for the registration of their new vehicles at the local excise office.
Sub-inspector Abdul Raoof and investigation DSP Mushtaq Ahmad conducted the interrogation.