IGP writes to establishment division to recall SSP Imran Qureshi from Sindh

In connection with the recent house robbery in Orangi Town in which cops were found involved, Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Riffat Mukhtar Raja has asked the establishment division to recall SSP Imran Qureshi from Sindh.

According to reports, the IGP wrote a letter to the establishment division, in which he said SSP Qureshi, who was heading the South Zone of the Karachi police, attempted to conceal the facts of the robbery.

The Sindh police chief accused SSP Qureshi of extreme negligence and irresponsible behaviour and asked the establishment division to carry out an inquiry, the reports said. However, the IGP and his spokesperson were unavailable when The News tried to contact them for verification.

Meanwhile, three more suspects allegedly involved in the Orangi Town house robbery case have been arrested by a special police team that conducted raids in various parts of the city.

The arrested suspects are private persons working as police informers and were with the police party that raided and robbed the trader’s house in Ooangi. It is said that one of the informers worked for SSP Qureshi and the other two worked in Orangi Town.

The arrested men were identified as Izhar, Mehfooz and Sattar, who are being interrogated to get clue about the remaining stolen cash and gold that is yet to be recovered.

Earlier, under-training DSP Umair Tariq Bajari, who allegedly carried out the raid, and three private persons were arrested in connection with the case but no other policeman from the raiding police party has been apprehended.

DSP Bajari and his raiding team have been accused of robbing Rs20 million and 70 to 80 tola gold from businessman Shakir Khan’s house in Orangi. The under-training DSP was arrested by the Karachi West police on November 21 for his ‘direct involvement’ in the robbery.

The case registered at the Pirabad police station also implicated two guards, Khurram Ali and Farhan Ali, and 15 to 20 others. Earlier on Thursday, IGP Raja suspended the under-training DSP, the prime suspect in the case.

Remands

A judicial magistrate on Friday remanded suspended DSP Bajari in judicial custody, and three other suspects in police custody until November 26 in a case pertaining to theft of Rs20 million, jewellery and other valuables during a raid on the house of a trader in Orangi Town, adds our correspondent.

The DSP, along with his two guards, Constable Khurram Ali and Constable Farhan Ali, and over a dozen other unidentified policemen and private persons, has been booked on charges of raiding the house of trader Shakir Khan in Orangi Town and kidnapping him and his brother on the night between November 18 and 19.

The investigation officer produced the DSP before Judicial Magistrate (West) Muhammad Abdullah Qadri on completion of his police remand. He also presented three recently arrested suspects — Mehfooz Hassan, Abdul Sattar, and Izhar before the judge.

The magistrate questioned the investigation officer about the investigation carried out against Bajari in the past two days, to which he stated that raids were conducted at two to three locations based on the information provided by the suspect and further investigations were under way.

When asked if he had investigated former South SSP Imran Qureshi, the IO said that they had a session with the policer officer on Thursday, following which the three suspects were arrested.

To this, Bajari's lawyer wondered that though the three men were arrested on the basis of information provided by SSP Qureshi, no action was taken against him.

The judge further inquired the IO whether he had been maintaining a diary of the investigations and had recorded statements of the suspects under the Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The officer explained that there was no diary nor had statements been recorded. He requested the magistrate to hand over the four suspects, including Bajari, to police for further investigation.

The judge inquired the three suspects if they were present during the raid, to which one of them, Mehfooz, stated that they were sent by the SSP. He added that Bajari had also given them instructions for the raid, during which they picked up valuables from the house.

He handed over the three suspects to the police on physical remand until November 26 and sent Bajari to jail on judicial remand.

An FIR was registered on Khan’s complaint at the Pirabad police station under the sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 365 (kidnapping) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Bajari, constables Khurram Ali and Farhan Ali, and 15 to 20 others, among whom some were in police uniform and others were in plain clothes.