HYDERABAD: Four policemen were booked and two of them were arrested for allegedly detaining two persons and minting Rs1.9m from them in an online transaction a couple of days back, it was revealed on Friday.

Hyderabad SSP Dr Farrukh confirmed arrest of the two policemen, Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) in-charge SIP Waheed Panhwar and constable Zohaib.

The detained persons have been identified as Jawad Memon and his friend Atiq Soomro, both residents of Moro town of Naushahro Feroze district.

The SSP said that Memon and Soomro were bookies and were picked up by the policemen to extort money from them.

Inquiries made by Dawn revealed that SIP Panhwar and his team waylaid Memon and Soomro when they were present in a court in connection with some litigation.

SIP Panhwar’s guard Mehtab and Mehmood Gujjar (who runs a guest house), as well as another suspect, Mustafa alias Raja, were also to be booked and arrested.

“The victims were detained at Gujjar’s guest house, located in an area falling within the limits of the Hussainabad police station, and were released after an amount of Rs1.9m was transferred from their account through an online application into the accounts of two persons who were close associates of Panhwar in Latifabad,” said a police source. The two persons were identified as Uzair, a resident of Latifabad’s Unit-7, and Mohammad Bux, a resident of Hyderabad’s SITE area.

It was learnt that the Sindh home minister spoke to the SSP as well as DSP CIA Aslam Langah after someone approached him to seek release of the detained men. When the DSP interrogated them, they identified the place of their detention (the guest house) and one of them told him that although his face was covered [while detained], he was able to figure out the area.

The CIA DSP visited the guest house, where the staff shared with him some facts, like who had taken them there on Tuesday for an overnight stay. The DSP spoke to SHO Imran Rasheed of the Cantonment police station because Memon and Soomro were picked up from civil court, which falls within his jurisdiction. The SHO was asked to see the place where they were taken to. He explained the site’s location to the DSP but avoided to go there for any police action.

“After visiting the guest house, DSP Langah called SIP Panhwar to the B-Section police station where other policemen, whose names were associated with the episode, were also brought,” said a source privy to the investigation.

Panhwar initially denied his involvement in the matter but when he was confronted with mobile phone’s gallery, he gave up as it revealed everything. “SIP Panhwar even told the DSP that he was briefing the District Intelligence Bureau (DIB) in-charge, Akbar Loond, about everything,” said a source.

Akbar Loond, however, rejected Panhwar’s claim. “SHOs and other policemen often share various things,” he argued. When he was told that Panhwar’s phone chat with him was shown to the DSP, Loond insisted that he was not aware of the episode.

Police interrogation with SIP Panhwar established that Rs1.9m was transferred in the accounts of Uzair Ali and Mohammad Bux. According to the SSP, the money was saved as it could not be withdrawn from the receiver’s account due to bank’s intervention at the account-holder’s request.

The Cantonment SHO confirmed that Zohiab and Panhwar were taken into custody, but denied that an FIR against them was registered.

Only last month, the SITE police had registered a case against two SIs and four police constables for holding a man in wrongful confinement to mint Rs400,000 from him.

The case was registered after High Court Bar Association (HCBA) President Ayaz Tunio had brought the matter to the notice of the SSP. It was lodged by Hubdar Ali Chandio.

The SIs were identified as Asif Jatoi and Saifullah Gill; police constable Zubair, and four unidentified constables.

According to the victim, he had gone to a mall located on Autobhan Road after closing his hotel to pick his friend. He stated that the accused kidnapped him in a car on Sept 11 and took him to the SITE police station where he was deprived of his ATM card, mobile phones and a cash amount of Rs83,000. He said he was then taken to a private bank’s branch where the suspects withdrew Rs422,000 using his ATM card.

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2024