GUJRAT, Sept 28: The Gujrat police have allegedly implicated hundreds of innocent people in false cases of illicit arms possession to show efficiency in the arms recovery drive, according to inside sources. Some of the arrests may have been politically motivated as well, the sources added.

The record shows that the local police have registered more cases of illicit arms possession than any other district police force in the province. As many as 3,479 such cases have been registered here.

The four officials of Gujrat B-Division Police Station, who were arrested by Akora Khattak police in possession of a huge quantity of illicit weapons on Sept 21, were allegedly carrying the weapons from Dara Adamkhel to Gujrat, where these weapons would have been used to implicate people in fabricated cases.

Sources in police said the Kunjah Police Station had registered about 50 cases in a single day (Sept 15), which, they added, was an impossible task. According to them, police officials were framing innocent people, using smuggled or old and rusted weapons bought from junk dealers.

According to Akora police FIR No 122, nine persons were arrested, including four policemen of B-Division police station. They were in a Hiace (LXK-9640) and had 166 pistols, eight Kalashnikovs, three 12-bore rifles, 1,800 cartridges and one kilogram of charas in their possession. The accused police officials were identified as Sub-Inspector Mohammad Khan, ASI Afzal and constables Ihsanullah and Shahbaz.

The Nowshera police brought the matter to the notice of the NWFP government which in turn informed the Punjab government. On Sept 23, Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool made Gujrat SSP Nisar Siroya an OSD and suspended Gujrat city DSP Qazi Khalid Lateef, B-Division SHO Chaudhry Iqbal and the four policemen arrested in Nowshera. The governor also ordered a departmental inquiry into the matter.

A spokesman for the Gujrat police told Dawn on Tuesday that Rafaqat, an employee of a local money-changer, was carrying Rs1.8 million to Lahore on Aug 24, when he was kidnapped by six armed outlaws at Chowk Nawab Sahib in Gujrat. Four of the accused were later arrested. During investigation, they revealed that they had murdered Mr Rafaqat and threw his body at a deserted place in Khojianwala. Police recovered Rs1.1 million of the stolen money as well as the decomposed body. The accused also pointed out the hideout of their fifth accomplice in Nowshera, who, according to them, had the rest of the stolen money in his possession. The four policemen had gone to Nowshera in the company of two of the accused to arrest the fifth member of the gang and recover the booty. The spokesman said the raiders had also written about the raid in the register (Roznamcha) before leaving for Nowshera.

However, sources told Dawn on condition of anonymity that the Roznamcha entry had been made after the arrest of the policemen on the orders of some highups. Another irregularity committed by the raiding party was that they neither asked permission from the NWFP government nor informed Nowshera police before making the raid, they said. To save his skin, Gujrat SSP Nisar Siroya suspended the four policemen the day they were arrested by the Akora police, they said.

When contacted, SSP Siroya denied the charges against him and said he had sent SP (investigation) Malik Liaqat to Nowshera to inquire into the matter.

APP ADDS: The Punjab government has ordered a high-level inquiry against former Gujrat SSP Nisar Ahmad Siroya on charges of misconduct, gross negligence and incompetence.

According to official sources, Punjab Governor Lt-Gen Khalid Maqbool (retired) has taken a serious note of Mr Siroya’s failure to handle the affairs of the district within the ambit of law and his issuing wrong instructions to subordinates, which put the police in awkward position.

The sources said that if the charges were proved, Mr Siroya would be suspended and his services placed at the disposal of federal government with the request not to employ him in the Punjab, where, the governor had categorically declared, there was no room for such incapable officers.

They further stated that a couple of years ago, Mr Siroya had had his services placed at the disposal of the federal government for failing to discharge his duties properly and patronising the influential people’s backing of criminals. Posted as SSP in Sukkar last year, he was suspended by the Sindh Governor for conducting unfair investigations in cases of a sensitive nature. In 1990 when he was an ASP, Mr Siroya was transferred from Faisalabad to the Central Police Office on public complaints.

He deputed the raiding team for arrest of criminals in FATA without prior approval of DIG and IG of the area, they added.

THE CORRESPONDENT RESUMES: This scribe visited the district jail on Thursday and interviewed some of the people detained for possessing illegal arms.

Arshad, resident of Kang Sahali, said he was a labourer and had been implicated by the B-division police in a fabricated case. He was unable to reply when asked as to what kind of weapon was recovered from him. The jail staff claimed that the police found a 32-bore pistol in his possession. Mr Arshad, however, alleged that it was the police who had placed the weapon on his person.

Muzaffar Husain, resident of Chah Beri Wala, who is a coachman by profession, had similar allegations to make against the B-division police. Nasir, who sells Pakore (a local culinary delight) at his shop in Garhi Shah, had the same story to tell about the excesses of B-division police.

Three more inmates, Iftikhar Ahmad of Kolian Shah Hussain, Arshad of Bagh Bawa and Sharif of Nandpur, told similar stories about the alleged excesses of Kunjah, Gujrat Sadar and A-division police.

They urged the Punjab governor to order a high-level inquiry into the matter.

Meanwhile, SP (investigation) Malik Liaqat who is conducting the inquiry, told Dawn that he would complete the assignment in a couple of days.