Sessions court also rejects Defense-C SHO’s interim bail after he skips hearing in magistrate intimidation case
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday sought a report from the Defense Station House Officer-C (SHO) on a petition alleging illegal detention of a suspect described by the prosecution as the “boss” of a group accused of the alleged kidnapping and rape of two foreign women.
On July 2, police rescued the two women hours after receiving an emergency complaint, arrested four suspects and opened an investigation into allegations of kidnapping, ransom demands and sexual assault. Three more suspects were subsequently arrested, bringing the total number of accused before the court to seven.
Justice Abher Gul adjourned the hearing until July 20 after reaching a decision habeas corpus petition filed by Mumtaz Bibi, the mother of suspect Waheed Tahir.
Representing the petitioner, advocate Rana Intizar Hussain argued that the police took Waheed Tahir from his house on July 3 but did not produce him before any court. He argued that the law requires an arrested person to be produced before a magistrate within 24 hours of their arrest.
The lawyer further informed the court that he had received information suggesting that Waheed Tahir was currently admitted at Services Hospital.
During the hearing, Justice Gul asked the petitioner’s lawyer what relief was sought. The lawyer argued that the suspect had been kept in illegal detention in violation of legal requirements and asked the court to order an end to his illegal detention and order his release.
Read also: Five-day extension of the pre-trial detention of four suspects in a case involving foreign women
The petition named the Punjab Inspector General of Police, Jail Superintendent and other officials as respondents. It claimed that although Tahir had been arrested in connection with the case, he had not been produced before a competent court despite the mandatory legal deadline having expired.
The court ordered the SHO of Defense station-C to submit a report before the next hearing.
The prosecution alleged that Tahir acted as the “leader” of the group involved in the offences. However, the present application concerns only the legality of his detention and the alleged failure to appear before a court within the time limits provided by law.
The court has so far granted police pre-trial detention of the seven suspects.
On July 3, a judicial magistrate granted a five-day remand to the first four suspects – Raza Dar, Hassan Raza, Sajid Ali and Sikandar Khan – which was extended for another five days on July 8. On Saturday, the court also granted five-day remand to the three remaining suspects – Rizwan, Nasir and Nawaz.
One of the suspects is linked to an influential political figure. However, Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran on Sunday said the suspect, believed to be linked to a senior government minister, would not be given preferential treatment and would be investigated like any other accused.
SHO’s interim bail rejected
In related news, a sessions court in Lahore on Monday rejected the interim bail application of Defense-C SHO Faryad Ali after he failed to appear in a case alleging that he had threatened a judicial magistrate handling the proceedings related to the alleged kidnapping and rape of the two foreign women.
Additional Sessions Judge Abdul Quddus rejected the bail application for non-prosecution after the SHO failed to attend the hearing. The court had earlier granted interim bail to Ali before his arrest and sought a response from the Mustafaabad police station.
According to the FIR, the SHO visited the house of the judicial magistrate and allegedly threatened him during the proceedings related to the high-profile case. The FIR further alleged that he entered the magistrate’s residence at night, thereby violating the sanctity of the house.
A separate FIR was later registered at Mustafaabad police station for alleged intimidation of the judicial magistrate.
The case
The two foreign women arrived in Islamabad on June 26 before traveling to Lahore on June 29. He said that around midnight on July 1, the Safe City Authority received information from a man identified as Carlos, who reported that his daughter had been kidnapped in Pakistan and that he had received a ransom demand.
“The police then launched an investigation using the affected phone numbers, vehicle registration details, travel records and footage from city security cameras, while conducting raids in Shahdara, Defence, Sargodha and other areas. The recovery of the women was our top priority,” he said.
Kamran said investigators traced the family tree of a suspect and conducted raids at various locations. “During one of these searches, residents of a house informed police that the suspect’s family previously lived there as tenants and were believed to have links to the deputy prime minister. The suspect was later identified as Mohammad Raza Dar,” he added.
He said police verified the information with the suspect’s family, obtained his phone number and began tracking him. “The family would certainly have asked the suspect to surrender,” he said.
Learn more: 4 people arrested for sexual assault on a foreign woman
The DIG said senior police officials and the government were informed after investigators discovered the suspect’s alleged links with a senior political figure. “We have received strict instructions from the government that he should not be treated differently from other criminals,” he said.
He said investigators were also looking into the possibility that a gang, rather than a single individual, was involved in the incident.
According to the DIG, the suspect was driving the two women to the airport when an altercation broke out inside the vehicle near Bhatta Chowk.
“During the scuffle, the vehicle collided with an object, after which the women jumped out and sought shelter at a nearby filtration plant, from where police rescued them safely,” he added.
Kamran said orders from judicial magistrates were necessary before the women’s medical examination could take place.
Read also: Locals arrest foreigners who try to kidnap nomadic girls
“As the magistrate was not on duty and the women had to leave Pakistan the next morning, an officer from the police station was sent to the magistrate’s house late at night to obtain the necessary orders. I apologize for this,” he said.
The DIG said police contacted the embassies of Spain and the Netherlands after picking up the women. The Spanish embassy informed investigators that one of the women was a Venezuelan national.
After consultations with the embassies, the women agreed to undergo medical examinations and then consented to record their statements before a magistrate under article 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Kamran said the embassies had also requested that the women be repatriated at the earliest, adding that police were continuing to investigate all aspects of the case.
