LAHORE: The mobile phone of a murder suspect dropped at the crime scene unfolded a horrific tale of a man’s alleged kidnap from Kasur district and his killing in Faisalabad, a case that also raised questions about the Punjab Police officers working as hitmen as well as the role of the political elite pressing for ‘out-of-court settlement’.

The murder was allegedly planned by an SHO of Faisalabad, Zeeshan Randhawa, and his school fellow Maqsood, another prime suspect, in connivance with 20 other accomplices, including five policemens and private gunmen.

The murder of Ghulam Rasool, a resident of Faisalabad, also exposed the role of some senior officers of Faisalabad police when it transpired that they had posted Randhawa as the Civil Lines SHO and initiated no action against him despite being informed about his alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of Ghulam Rasool.

According to the first information report (FIR), the unidentified armed men came in six vehicles, including a double cabin crew cab pickup (Dala), and barged into the residence of one Abdul Rauf at Lakhu Baryar in district Kasur late night on Jan 15. The policemen were clad in uniform but they had arrived in private vehicles.

Victim was kidnapped from Kasur by SHO, cops and main accused and killed in Faisalabad

The intruders slapped and thrashed the family members, terrorised them at gunpoint, bundled Ghulam Rasool and his relative Shafiq in a van and drove away.

The complainant, Abdul Rauf, said in the FIR that the suspected kidnappers tortured and injured Shafiq and then dropped him from the vehicle near Okara district. He said Shafiq immediately informed his family by a phone call that the kidnappers had taken away Ghulam Rasool to an undisclosed location.

The preliminary investigations later revealed that Ghulam Rasool was allegedly shot dead a day after his abduction in Faisalabad and his body was found with a single bullet shot in his forehead in the jurisdiction of Balak Police Station.

The Kasur police were alerted about the murder the same day and it advanced investigations into the kidnap and killing case.

In the middle of the investigation, the Kasur police high-ups called a meeting and took a decision to refer the case to the Crime Control Department (CCD).

Kasur CCD District Officer (DO) DSP Attique Dogar was given the task to resolve the case, declaring it a high profile test case as there were reports that two members of the Punjab Assembly from Kasur and Faisalabad had made a surprise entry into the matter.

The investigation started with the mobile phone data of a private gunman who lost it when they kidnapped the victim from Kasur. The same mobile phone and its data helped the CCD to resolve the case.

Talking to Dawn, DSP Dogar shared some stunning revelations regarding the involvement of Faisalabad Civil Lines SHO Zeeshan Randhawa who allegedly planned the kidnap and murder of Ghulam Rasool in connivance with his school fellow Maqsood, settled in the UK, who had reached Pakistan just to take a revenge of killing of his father and brother.

Maqsood’s brother and his father were allegedly murdered in 2004 by his relative, Ghulam Rasool, over a property dispute of 11 kanal land located in Samundri tehsil of Faisalabad.

“The Faisalabad police had lodged a murder case, arrested Ghulam Rasool who was awarded a death sentence, which was later converted into life imprisonment by the Supreme Court. During his imprisonment, Maqsood planned murder of Ghulam Rasool at the Kot Lakhpat Jail by sending an armed hitman to the prison.

The hitman changed his plan when he made an entry along with the pistol and revealed to a jail official about the purpose of his visit,” the DSP said.

He said the jail hushed up the matter, fearing departmental action over the security breach.

In November 2024, Ghulam Rasool was released from the jail after completing the imprisonment period and Maqsood himself reached Lahore and made another attempt to kill Ghulam Rasool in an armed attack but he escaped.

However, Maqsood and Randhawa began to work on the last ultimate murder plan of Ghulam Rasool by involving multiple people for his recce.

During investigation, Mr Dogar said, the CCD obtained the calls data record (CDR) that revealed that SHO Zeeshan Randhawa and Maqsood had visited Lahore and Kasur more than five times.

As they were given secret information that Ghulam Rasool had reached his brother-in-law’s residence in Kasur, the suspects, including Maqsood, SHO Randhawa, a sub-inspector, five constables and several private gunmen kidnapped him in January.

Sharing some more important details, DSP Attique Dogar revealed that two MPAs, one each from Faisalabad and Kasur, made a surprise entry into the case, used their influence and managed to bring the complainant of the FIR and the accused parties on a table for a deal.

The parliamentarians played a decisive role in the deal of Rs10m that was to be paid by the accused persons to the complainant and the case was ‘closed’.

However, the CCD reopened the case when it was referred to it and relaunched the investigation to bring facts to the public, the DSP said.

During the course of investigations, the CCD found that the underhand deal was matured by the parliamentarians for Rs10m and the same (agreement) was not presented in any court, the DSP said.

Talking about the fresh development, he said, the complainant has appeared before the court and informed that he had returned the amount to the accused, requesting the court to allow the CCD to hold investigation on merit.“We have arrested SHO Zeeshan Randhawa, Maqsood and another accomplice Shabbir in the murder case of Ghulam Rasool,” the DSP said, adding that raids were being conducted for the arrest of all other suspects involved in the case.In statement on Saturday last, Faisalabad police said CPO Sahibzada Bilal Umar had suspended the SHO after the SSP operations conducted an inquiry and found him guilty.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2025