BAHAWALNAGAR: The district police officer (DPO) removed six personnel of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Police Station and suspended an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the branch from service after a video went viral, allegedly showing the police taking bribe from a young man in the name of checking documents of his car and keeping him in illegal confinement at the police station as well as at the outhouse of a local politician.

The youth, Shabbir, told Dawn that he was waiting for his relatives in his mini-car near the Cantt Road on Jan 25 at about 11am when CIA ASI Ijaz Hussain, along with about eight personnel, claiming to be of the Organised Crime Branch (OCB), arrived at the scene in civvies. He said that after checking his identity and registration of the car, they ordered him to move the vehicle to the CIA Police Station.

Shabbir informed the police high-ups about the situation by calling on police helpline 1787 but the ASI assured the 1787 operator of his earliest release while declaring the matter routine checking. He claimed that the DSP CIA, after questioning him, also asked the staff to release him; however, he was stopped by the private persons present at the police station who asked him to show them complete documents of the vehicle. He said later when he received documents on his WhatsApp, the ASI refused to see them, saying proper interrogation was required from him (Shabbir) because he had parked his vehicle at the location of a robbery incident.

Shabbir said that after being kept in illegal confinement for almost two hours at the CIA Police Station in presence of the DSP, he was forcefully bundled into an official vehicle and was shifted to an outhouse of the politician who misbehaved with him and demanded bribe. The politician ‘ordered’ the ASI to let him go after one of his relatives made a phone call to the politician and begged for his release, Shabbir claimed.

He said the ASI agreed to release him but showed hesitation to release his vehicle and demanded a Rs50,000 bribe. Shabbir was shifted back to the CIA Police Station and he was finally released on the intervention of the DSP.

He uploaded the video of his ordeal on social media on Saturday evening and it went viral, getting more than 60,000 views within a few hours. He said he received threats of dire consequences from different elements for uploading the video.

The DPO’s PRO Shehzad Ishfaq said the DPO had initiated an inquiry into the incident, removed (transferred to Police Lines) six CIA officials and suspended ASI Ijaz Hussain. He said the DSP Saddar would probe the matter within three days and anyone involved in the incident would face the music.

Responding to the removal of the six officials, the CIA sources claimed only the ASI belonged to the CIA while others shown in the video were private persons and not the CIA officials who were removed from the station.

They claimed that the men along with the ASI had their criminal records and they had contacts in police for years because of political influence. The sources said the politician, who could be seen in the video, had been given a free-hand.

CIA DSP Nadeem Sarwar refused to comment on the matter whereas DSP Saddar Mehar Nadeem said the inquiry was underway and the matter would be dealt with according to merit.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2022