Karachi police on Saturday said Ferozabad Station Investigation Officer Farooq Azam and his team have been booked and arrested for allegedly extorting money from family members of a suspect in the Bahadurabad lynching case.
SSP East Ghulam Azfar Mahesar said in a statement that a case, number 245/2019, has been filed against the suspects under Articles 384 [punishment for extortion] and 385 [putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion] of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
On Aug 17, an alleged teenage thief was beaten to death by angry people in the Bahadurabad area. According to the police, two suspects entered a home in Kokan Society apparently to commit a theft.
One of them escaped while inmates got hold of the other suspect. The bungalow owners and others who gathered there subjected him to severe beating before the arrival of police who took him into custody. The boy was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead. A police officer had said that the victim was aged around 16 or 17 years.
Later in the day, the deceased was identified as Rehan son of Zohair, resident of Khudadad Colony. According to his post-mortem examination, there were multiple injuries on his head and face caused by sticks and bats.
On the same day, police arrested two owners of the house on charges of killing the teenage suspect and filed a case. Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took notice of the killing. The next day, police said that three more suspects had been arrested, bringing the total up to five.
According to the SSP on Saturday, the investigation team brought a suspect to his house, barged into the residence and harassed his family members.
“The investigation team reportedly received money from family members of the suspect. The matter is under investigation,” the SSP said.
SIO Farooq Azam, Sub-Inspector Rehmat, Constable Shah Faisal and Ghulam Rasool have been nominated in the case, he said, adding that Ghulam Rasool has escaped.
He added that the investigation of the case would be carried out on merit and no leniency would be tolerated in this regard. Mahesar vowed that police would restore the confidence of people in the department.
