Lahore DIG says 'minister-linked suspect' treated like any other criminal in foreign women case

Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Operations) Faisal Kamran on Sunday said police were treating a suspect reportedly linked to a senior government minister no differently from any other criminal in the investigation into the alleged abduction and sexual assault of two foreign women. Police on Thursday rescued two foreign women within hours of receiving an emergency complaint, arrested four suspects, and launched an investigation into allegations of kidnapping, ransom demands, and sexual assault. Addressing a press conference in Lahore today, the DIG said the case was being investigated by Lahore police instead of the Crime Control Department (CCD), as it did not fall within the latter's jurisdiction. Read: Lahore court grants five-day physical remand of four in alleged foreign women assault case He said the Punjab police's specialised rape investigation cell was examining the case, adding that although the CCD had handled similar cases in the past, the present matter was being investigated by Lahore police. Providing a timeline of the case, Kamran said the two foreign women arrived in Islamabad on June 26 before travelling to Lahore on June 29. He said that at around midnight on July 1, the Safe City Authority received information from a man identified as Carlos, who reported that his daughter had been abducted in Pakistan and that he had received a ransom demand. "Police subsequently launched an investigation using the relevant phone numbers, the vehicle's registration details, travel records and footage from safe city 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 carried out raids at various locations. "During one such raid, residents of a house informed police that the suspect's family had previously lived there as tenants and was believed to have links with 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 tracing his location. Read More: 4 arrested for sexual assault of foreign women "The family would certainly have asked the suspect to surrender," he said. The DIG said senior police officials and the government had been informed after investigators discovered the suspect's alleged links to a senior political figure. "We received strict instructions from the government that he should not be treated any differently from any other criminal," he said. He added that investigators were also examining 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 refuge at a nearby filtration plant, from where police recovered them safely," he added. Kamran said judicial magistrate's orders were required before the women's medical examination could be conducted. "As the magistrate was not on duty and the women were scheduled to leave Pakistan the following morning, a station house officer was sent to the magistrate's residence late at night to obtain the necessary orders. I apologise for that," he said. Read More: Locals nab foreigners trying to kidnap nomadic girls The DIG said police contacted the embassies of Spain and the Netherlands after recovering the women. The Spanish embassy informed investigators that one of the women was a Venezuelan national. Following consultations with the embassies, the women agreed to undergo medical examinations and later consented to recording their statements before a magistrate under Section 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.

from Punjab News Updates and Insights - The Express Tribune https://ift.tt/xEVfFyJ