MULTAN, July 1: Call it mass ignorance or corrupt police officials, police investigators rarely win public trust, if complaints of a plaintiff and statements of a district police chief are to be viewed.
Muhammad Bashir of Khanewal alleges that police has tampered with investigation reports to prove influential accused innocent who kidnapped and sodomised his son. The Khanewal district police officer (DPO), however, says police investigation has proved the accused innocent and the complainant should put trust in police’s working.
Bashir from Colony No 1 in Khanewal says his son Ghulam Yaseen (not real name) was kidnapped on November 3, 2006, and eyewitnesses told him that Muhammad Imran, Muhammad Tahir and Muhammad Afzal picked his son.
He contacted the family of Imran and his elder bothers assured them that they would return the boy but later they backed out.
Bashir submitted an application with DPO Shahid Hanif, who forwarded it to the city police station. Police officials, however, did not take any action.
After a week, a farmer informed Bashir that accused had shifted the boy from Dera Muhammad Asif to Bheini Sher Shah. He chased the accused on his own as police again refused to take any action.
On Nov 12, Rana Iftikhar, investigation officer, informed Bashir to come to the police station as police had found his son. When he reached there, his son told him police had forcibly obtained a statement from him that he had left his house on his own due to strict behaviour of his father.
The boy said the accused had sodomised him. Bashir asked the police to conduct the medical examination of his son, but Station House Officer (SHO) Afsar Khan Niazi asked him to hush up the case. Bashir moved the special judicial magistrate court, which directed the medical superintendent of the Khanewal District Headquarters Hospital to conduct the medical examination of the boy.
The medical report and the chemical examiner confirmed the boy had been sodomised. Despite the medical report, police refused to register a case.
On Feb 15, Bashir moved the Lahore High Court, Multan bench, and on Feb 17, Justice Muhammad Jahangir Arshad ordered police to lodge a first information report.
On Feb 20, police launched the FIR and after that the case has been red-taped. Accused Imran was granted an interim bail which was later cancelled on April 11. But the accused escaped arrest. On April 21, the accused filed a writ petition for interim bail in the Lahore High Court, Multan bench, where police told the court the accused was innocent and the area magistrate had been asked to dismiss the case. After that the accused withdrew the bail plea.
Bashir alleges DPO Hanif pressured him to withdraw the case and threatened him if he did not withdraw the case, he could be implicated in cases.
He alleged that former City Police Station SHO Zubair Bangish had forged the investigation reports at the instance of the DPO.
Bangish, however, said he had found the accused innocent.
DPO Hanif said when the results of investigation are against the wishes of any party, they find fault with police. He said if the applicant is not satisfied with investigation, he can arrange the reinvestigation of the case.
