Geo-fencing search of villages near crime spot completes

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Lahore Police have completed the geo-fencing of three places and searched villages lying within a five kilometres radius of the crime scene.

Lahore police have yet to ascertain as to who reached the incident site initially as there are many stories doing rounds about it. The Dolphin Force’s cop claimed that they were the first to approach the woman.

Police have also recovered some of the valuables of the victim. The victim woman’s gold ring and wrist were found in the fields where she was reportedly taken by two unidentified men along with her children at gunpoint and was raped. The attackers had taken Rs100,000 cash and other valuables of the victim with them while fleeing.

The commander of Punjab Police finally woke up for the security of Lahore-Sialkot Motorway on Friday, after happening of a tragedy with a woman in front of her children in the Gujjarpura police limits.

Despite passage of three days, the police failed to arrest the robbers, who had raped and looted the woman on the Motorway.

A special investigation team (SIT) visited the crime scene on Friday and restructured the happening of the heinous act. However, the investigators could not find any tangible clue to the culprits.

The criminal profiling of 15 suspects had been completed. Traditional and modern techniques of investigation were being used to find out the culprits.

A member of the investigation team told The News that DNA [deoxyribo-nucleic acid] samples of suspects are being sent to Forensic Science Agency. The reports will take some time for matching with the victim.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Inam Ghani said that teams of Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) and Special Protection Unit (SPU) had been deployed for security duties on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway. He said the PHP and SPU teams would patrol 24 hours a day in three shifts, which would ensure safety of lives and property of citizens and help curb criminal acts.

The IGP termed the news fake regarding the arrest of main culprit. A private news channel had flashed the news late on Friday night that the main suspect had been arrested. The news also went viral on the social media. However, the IG Punjab and Shahbaz Gill said there was no such development. They said once the suspect would be arrested, he would be brought before the public.

The IGP directed Additional IGP PHP Captain (retd) Zafar Iqbal Awan to conduct field visits to inspect and monitor the security arrangements of Lahore-Sialkot Motorway to improve security arrangements under a comprehensive strategy.

He expressed these views while instructing officers and talking to the media during his visit to crime scene and launching patrolling of the PHP and SPU teams for security on Lahore-Sialkot Motorway on Friday.

Additional IGP PHP Captain (retd) Zafar Iqbal Awan, Additional IG Internal Accountability Branch (IAB) Azhar Hameed Khokhar, DIG Special Protection Unit Bilal Siddique Kamiana and other officers were present in the meeting.

A video link conference was also held at Central Police Office to improve security arrangements on Lahore-Sialkot Motorway. Federal Secretary Communications Zafar Hassan, IG Motorway Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, IG Punjab Inam Ghani and other senior police and highway police officers participated. Secretary Communications Zafar Hassan told the meeting all possible resources would be provided for safety and convenience of citizens on the newly constructed motorway.