MUZAFFARGARH: Police registered a case against ex-MNA Jamshed Ahmad Dasti and others on charges of kidnapping drivers and helpers of oil tankers and taking away oil worth millions.

Chowk Qureshi police registered the case against Mr Dasti and his men under sections 395, 365, 170 and 171 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), arresting three of the suspects, while the ex-MNA was still at large.

As per police sources, on Dec 24 midnight an oil tanker going to Multan from Dera Ghazi Khan was stopped by a ‘police van’ near Muzaffargarh.

After stopping the tanker four men in elite force uniforms took the driver and his helper, along with the tanker to an unidentified place, where they thrashed both of them and transferred oil worth Rs4 million into another tanker.

The criminals kept the driver and helper detained for two days before they were released.

After three days, oil tanker’s owner approached District Police Officer Nadeem Abbas with the tanker’s driver and informed him about the incident.

The DPO constituted a team under city DSP Azmat Gurmani which after investigation traced and arrested an elite force personnel, Farrukh Shehzad, who confessed to have committed the crime.

During investigation, the suspect reportedly told police that ex-MNA Dasti and his men had also been involved in the crime since long.

On the basis of his statement, the police booked Mr Dasti and others, arresting an ex-Union Council chairman Ajmal Karlo and Abid Malana.

The DPO said strict action would be taken against the criminals involved in such cases.

As per sources, police were conducting raids to arrest Mr Dasti who was in hiding.

Mr Dasti’s phone was found switched off when this scribe tried to contact him for his version.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2020