FAISALABAD, Sept 20: The investigation wing of the district police has deprived hundreds of people of cash and genuine vehicles and got 49 cases registered against some of them without any lawful authority just to cover up its wrongdoings. This is what an exhaustive study of files pertaining to the Faisalabad Excise and Taxation Department motor registration scandal and cases registered by the police against over 100 vehicle owners reveals.
The documents show that suspended SP (Investigation) Abdullah Khalid had constituted various teams to collect huge amounts from people by exploiting the motor registration scandal. To achieve the task, the SP had set up two separate torture cells in Makuana adjacent to the Punjab Constabulary Police Lines and one near Jhal Khanuana police post where around his two dozen blue-eyed police officials were deputed.
Similarly, a spy wing was established for gleaning information about the scandals in which the investigation wing could exploit its unbridled powers to collect bribes.
After receiving solid information, the investigation wing through its cultivated complainants raided the excise and taxation department and took hundreds of vehicle registration files into possession, besides arresting 14 excise officials.
After a thorough study of the motor registration record, the investigation teams set up four different cells comprising two dozen police officials, including inspectors Haq Nawaz, Jamshed Iqbal Chishti, Asadur Rehman and sub-inspectors Fayyaz Ihsan and Abdul Razzaq.
These investigation cells summoned 600 vehicle owners who were reportedly harassed and threatened with implication in criminal charges of forgery and fraudulently acquiring registration on fake papers and stolen cars. The vehicles of such people were also taken into custody and chassis numbers tampered through hired technicians.
Subsequently, such chassis numbers were sent for laboratory tests and the police obtained the reports of conflicting numbers which forced the vehicle owners to pay heavy bribes for their rescue, reveal the documents.
The documents also give out that the investigation wing took into custody 300 files from the motor branch of the E&TD on the pretext of fake registration papers, but only 49 FIRs could be lodged with the Civil Lines, Jaranwala, Saddar and Kotwali police stations. Of them, 40 cases were registered with the Civil Lines and seven with the Jaranwala police stations after the posting of Inspector Jamshed Iqbal, who was earlier supervising the entire motor registration interrogation at the Sargodha Road police station.
It transpired during the perusal of files that 128 people were nominated in 49 FIRs, out of whom three excise employees were declared the main accused. They were formally arrested in all these cases while others were neither arrested nor proceeded against — a fact that bore ample testimony to the motive of extortion.
The police investigating wing jumped into the scam in June last year and had so far completed challan of only nine out of 49 cases. The investigators claim that the challans were lying pending because some defects were yet to be removed. This, show the documents, is an excuse of the investigators to put the matter in the cold storage.
According to law, the challan should be submitted and probe completed within 14 days as envisaged in the CrPC.
It has been observed that a full-fledged legal wing operating under the direct command of the DPO for overseeing the working of the watch and ward and registration wing in consonance with the Police Order 2002 and laws has not even bothered to take cognizance of malpractices.