DSP remanded in police custody after overnight arrest in Orangi burglary case

A judicial magistrate granted one-day police remand of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Umair Tariq on Wednesday in connection with an alleged robbery during a raid on a trader’s residence in Orangi Town.

The investigating officer presented the detained DSP before Judicial Magistrate-XXII (West) Muhammad Abdullah Qadri, requesting his physical remand for questioning. The IO stated that the police officer is required to be investigated about his alleged involvement in the commissioning of the offence and the recovery of the remaining looted valuables.

He said Rs20 million in cash, 70 to 80 tolas of gold, 12 mobile phones, and two laptops were stolen from the house. Defence lawyer Amir Mansoob Qureshi argued that his client was innocent and falsely implicated in the case. He pointed out that the DSP, being under training, was not present at the alleged crime scene. He questioned the need for custody when an inquiry against his client had already been conducted.

The counsel stated that the Defence SHO had already returned Rs13 million, mobile phones, and other valuables, a fact acknowledged by the complainant, who confirmed there were no outstanding things. He said that the police had registered a false case against his client.

The magistrate granted one-day remand of the DSP and directed the IO to produce him today along with an investigation report.

Case registered

Police have registered a case against the trainee DSP and over 15 others, among whom are both cops and civilians. The court has granted a one-day judicial remand of Bajari. According to an inquiry report, Bajari is said to be an influential police officer who has also been involved in criminal activities in the past and who has been running a special police party.

Citing DHA Phase-IV paan shop owner Abdul Rasheed’s complaint, the report states that a police party had raided his shop and seized imported cigarettes worth Rs175,000, following which the man visited the South Zone DIG’s office and then the Clifton SP’s office, where he was advised to meet Bajari.

When Rasheed met Bajari, the latter accused the complainant of lying about the value of the cigarettes and received cigarettes worth Rs30,000 to Rs50,000 to settle the matter. The inquiry committee has recommended a separate inquiry against Bajari on this case.

Bajari was reportedly also involved in illegal raids on October 24. Complainant Mansoor Shaikh claimed that Bajari raided his relative’s home in Gulshan-e-Iqbal and then his home in Sohrab Goth’s Gulzar-e-Hijri, taking him as well as cash, jewellery and other valuables.

Police first took Shaikh to the Boat Basin police station, then they kept him in illegal confinement for at least four days at a hideout in Shirin Jinnah Colony to demand money for his release.

The Boat Basin SHO also reportedly interrogated him during his illegal confinement. Police kept asking him for Rs20 million, but they released him on October 28 after he informed them that he had been working for an intelligence agency for two and a half years.

In the recent case, FIR No. 762/23 was registered on Shakir Khan’s complaint at the Pirabad police station under sections 452, 342, 395 and 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Bajari, his two gunmen, constables Khurram Ali and Farhan Ali, and 15 to 20 others, among whom some were in police uniforms and others were in plain clothes.

“I am associated with the sanitary business and am a distributor for all sanitary companies. On November 19 armed individuals wearing police uniforms and plain clothes arrived in a black Vigo, a police mobile and a Mehran, and on motorbikes,” reads the FIR.

“They started searching my house, holding all my family hostage in a room. My brother Aamir and I were put in the mobile with our money and other belongings. Our faces were covered with cloths, so we couldn’t see anything. They left us on the Baloch Colony flyover, fleeing with our cash and other belongings.”

The complainant said the Pirabad SHO was requested to register a case, but he refused, and it was later revealed that it was not a raid but a robbery. He said they were then called to the Defence police station, where the Defence SHO returned Rs13.5 million, 50 tolas of gold and other valuables to him.

District South SSP Imran Qureshi and the trainee DSP were removed on Tuesday after they were found responsible for the house robbery in Orangi Town. An inquiry report prepared by West Zone DIG Asim Qaimkhani shows Qureshi, Bajari, and other cops and civilians were involved in the raid and responsible for the robbery. Qureshi has been removed from his position, and Bajari has been arrested.