Eight cops arrested for patronising beggars

Islamabad : Islamabad police have nabbed eight cops of the force involved in patronising beggars and started a crackdown against those handling or backing the professional alm-seekers.

Following complaints of citizens about a surge in begging activities, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar directed SP (Investigation), Malik Naeem Iqbal, to take action against those patronizing beggars.

As per directions, he constituted special teams under supervision of DSP Hakim Khan which arrested eight persons forcing children and women to adopt the ugly business.

It came to know during the investigation from the beggars that policemen formally support and get money from them.

Following this information, Zonal SPs initiated action against policemen patronizing activities in their respective area and nabbed Assistant Sub-Inspector Nasir Maqbool, Head Constables Raheem Khan, Zulfiqar Ali, Constables Liaqat Ali, Mushtaq, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Ehsan.

The nabbed patrons of beggars revealed that children and others also supply drugs in public transport as well as truck drivers in the guise of alm-seekers.

These handlers have been working in form of an organized gang and used to hire children mostly from shanty areas against the daily wages from Rs500 to Rs600 for begging in specific areas.

IGP Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar said that policemen backing beggars would not be spared and this menace would be curbed through strict action.