GUJRAT, June 27: Gujrat Sadar police are reluctant to arrest proclaimed offenders, who had earlier shot dead the father of five expatriates and later threatened their mother to withdraw a murder case. Through a written application submitted to the Pakistan ambassador in Italy, expatriate Ghulam Abbas had urged President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to take a punitive action against Gujrat Sadar police for patronizing murderers of his father.

The Sadar police had lodged an FIR No 610 against some unidentified men on the charge of murdering Muhammad Shafi on the complaint of slain’s wife Rasoolan Bibi on Nov 21, 2004.

The complainant alleged that she, her married daughter Rehana Kausar and daughters-in-law Shahnaz Akhtar and Sana were asleep in different rooms, while her husband Shafi was asleep in the courtyard.

At the dead of night, she said all the inmates woke up with the firing of gunshots. Later, she said she had found her husband killed with bullet shots. A day after the murder incident, five expatriate sons — Ghulam Abbas, Ghulam Qasim, Iqbal, Riaz and Afzal reached Pakistan to participate in the funeral.

Ghulam Abbas claimed that his mother had nominated two brothers-in-law, Zahid and Shahid, of her two sons Afzal and Ghulam Qasim and Qasim’s wife Sana in the murder case.

Citing motive behind the killing, he claimed that the Sadar police had registered a dacoity case against Zahid and his accomplices on the complaint of his slain father Shafi on Sept 18, 2001. Later, the police had arrested the accused and sent them to jail.

He said accused Zahid along with his family members had requested his slain father to forgive him. He said his slain father had accepted Zahid’s plea on the condition that he or his family members would not visit his house in future.

But after a few months, the accused had started visiting the house of his father to meet their sisters. He said his father had also forbidden his daughters-in-law from visiting the house of their brothers, but to no avail.

He claimed that his father had repeatedly engaged in brawls with the accused brothers on the issue of visiting the house. To take revenge, he alleged that the accused brothers had murdered his father.

He further alleged that investigating officer SI Akram Khan, the then Rehmania Chowki incharge, had taken Rs14,000 from him on the pretext of hiring transport to conduct raids for the arrest of the accused. SHO Mian Abbas and the investigation officer, however, had set free the accused allegedly after taking bribe from them.

At this, Abbas said that his mother moved the sessions court alleging that the investigating officer was favouring the accused party. Expecting no justice from the investigating officer, he said his mother had prayed the court for the change of investigation.

In his decision, he said the sessions judge had written that SI Akram Khan was not investigating the case properly as he had not recorded the statements of witnesses. Ordering for the change of investigation, the judge had directed the SP (Investigation) to himself conduct the investigation or depute any responsible subordinate for the purpose.

Later, the sessions judge had declared Zahid, Shahid and their sister Sana as proclaimed offenders and directed the Sadar police to arrest the accused immediately.

He said that accused Zahid and Shahid along with their two unidentified accomplices had gone to his house and opened fire to harass his family on Feb 13, 2005. The accused had threatened his mother to murder her as well if she did not withdraw the case.

The Sadar police, he said, had registered another case against the accused under sections 324/34 of the PPC.

Ghulam Abbas claimed that the accused, being patronized by an influential landlord of Adowal village, were still threatening his family with dire consequences.

He alleged that accused POs were roaming freely in the area, but the police did not arrest them. He demanded that stern action should be taken against the policemen for their failure to arrest the accused. Besides, he said that protection should also be provided to his family members, particularly his mother.

Meanwhile, a Sadar police spokesman claimed that foot constables were getting information about the whereabouts of POs and hoped that they would be arrested soon.

Denying the allegation of patronizing the accused, he said the police were ready to conduct a raid anywhere to arrest the accused on the information provided by the victim family.