ISLAMABAD, June 23: The capital police on Saturday detained a team of Rawalpindi police and the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) after they arrived with a warrant to arrest property tycoon Malik Riaz in a land fraud case.

The capital police registered a case against the officials, including the circle officer ACE Tanveer Shahzad and DSP Civil Lines Malik Tariq, before escorting them out of the city limits.

The case was registered under section 186 of the PPC (obstructing public servants from discharging their official functions) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duty).

Sources said the 22-member team of the ACE and the Rawalpindi police reached the Aabpara police station to complete legal formalities for raiding the house of the property tycoon and arrest him.

The Aabpara police officials informed their seniors about the arrival of the riding team, the sources said. In response, they were directed to detain the Pindi police and ACE personnel. Soon afterwards, senior police officers, including a senior superintendent of police and an SP, reached the police station and started using harsh language against their subordinates, including the SHO, for allowing the raiding team to enter the premises, the sources added.

However, the SHO put all the blame on the shoulder of the subdivisional police officer. In response, the SDPO said he was ready to relinquish his post, which led to his suspension.

The senior police officers refused to allow the Pindi police to raid the house of Malik Riaz and asked them to immediately leave the city. However, till a case was registered against them, they were kept in detention for a few hours.

Later, the squads of two senior-most police officers along with some patrolling vehicles under the supervision of an SP escorted the raiding team out of the limits of Islamabad at Faizabad.

The police high-ups, who had on Friday directed all the personnel deployed at checkposts at Faizabad and Kashmir Highway not to allow the Rawalpindi police and the ACE personnel to enter the capital, were suspended. Besides, the guards deployed at the entrance of the Aabpara police station along with the moharrar and duty officer were also suspended. A senior police officer on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the raiding team was detained in the police station and a case registered against them. He said the team carried warrants issued by the anti-corruption court of Rawalpindi.

He also claimed that the team had raided the house of Malik Riaz at G-6/3 to arrest him without informing the Aabpara police.  Another senior officer said the Pindi police raided the property tycoon’s house to arrest him without getting permission from the interior ministry through the Punjab government, which was a violation of the law. The officer first said the address mentioned in the warrants was not of Islamabad but hastened to claim that the team did not carry any documents.

The SHO Aabpara said he intercepted the raiding team at Kashmir Highway and asked them about the reason for coming to the city.

However, they pushed him aside and rushed towards Malik Riaz’s house. He said nine police personnel deployed at the Faizabad checkpost and Kashmir Highway were suspended.

DSP Malik Tariq of the Pindi police told Dawn: “We went to the police station for completing legal formalities but the Aabpara police obstructed us from performing our official duty.”

He said: “The capital police begged us to leave the city and do not jeopardise their jobs.”

He said they would inform the ACE about the attitude of the capital police. “The circle officer of the ACE in a report stated that they cannot arrest the property tycoon from Islamabad as this will put their lives in danger,” the DSP said, adding the report would be submitted to the court on June 25.

It may be mentioned that two years back, District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Mazhar Hussain Minhas in a report had said the Islamabad police were completely under the influence and control of Malik Riaz. The report said some police officials acted as his personal servants and instead of performing their lawful duties kept on playing with the liberties of innocent people by involving them in false and baseless cases.

Meanwhile, senior police officers held a meeting at the Aabpara police station late Saturday and reinstated all the suspended officials. It was, however, decided that any team coming to arrest the property tycoon in future would get more aggressive response.