Gang-rape on motorway: ‘Culprits’ clues confirmed, evading arrest for now

 LAHORE: The police have identified the main culprit in the motorway gang-rape case with the help of DNA profiling, as well as his accomplice, and intensive raids are being conducted at various places for their arrest.

This was disclosed by Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at a press conference here on Saturday. He was flanked by Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani.

The IGP told the media the accused fled from their homes when the police teams conducted raids there.

Interestingly, the CM shared all information about the suspects at the press conference against the norms of investigations to high-profile cases ‘before the arrest’ of culprits.

If one believes that the suspects are still at large, the disclosure of all particulars of suspects would facilities them to go into hiding. Senior police officers believed that the press conference was normally held at the arrest of culprits, and not at a time when they were absconding.

Sources said special teams including the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) had arrested both the accused and they would be killed in encounters soon “to award them exemplary punishment”. It would also help the Police Department avoid prosecution process in the relevant courts, a senior police officer said.

According to the official stance of the Punjab government, special police teams had launched a manhunt to apprehend the culprits after having identified them through scientific evidence.

The CM announced a reward of Rs2.5 million for those providing credible information for arrest of each culprit. He said that the identity of those bringing forward any information would be kept confidential.

“We worked day and night and launched a probe using scientific techniques. I personally monitored the progress and ordered for completion of probe expediently," Buzdar said.

"I want to inform you all we have succeeded in tracking down the real culprits of the heart-wrenching incident in less than 72 hours.

“I assure you that the savages, who committed the crime, will be brought to justice very soon," the CM vowed. Buzdar said that the culprits would be given exemplary punishment for the heinous crime.

IGP Inam Ghani said that the police have entire record of both accused – identified as Abid Ali and Waqarul Hasan – in the case.

According to the CM, seven cases, including two gang-rape cases, were registered against Abid, while two robbery cases were registered against Waqar who was released 14 days ago on bail.

"A special investigation team was constituted in which officers from the CTD, Special Branch, and an officer from the unit of violence against women were made part of the team," Ghani said. He said that the entire area where the incident took place was canvassed. "Geofencing of the entire area was carried out, data was taken from the Election Commission of Pakistan, fingerprints were taken from the site, and DNA tests were conducted," he said. Ghani said that scientific investigation was a time-consuming process.

The chief minister cooperated with the police throughout the process and he remained in contract with the team even at night, till 1:30-2am," he said.

The police chief said that ultimately, on midnight of Friday and Saturday, "through scientific evidence", the prime suspect was identified as Abid Ali.

"Abid is a resident of Fort Abbas, district Bahawalnagar," he said.

"Our teams worked hard to gain information about Abid and were able to get information about his family, his prior records, his CNIC, and cell numbers.

The IGP said that after the police went through the records, they had gathered they got to know that the suspect had four cell-phone SIMs registered in his name that he used on several occasions. All of the SIMs, however, were currently non-functional.

"Ultimately, we tracked down another number — which was not registered in his name — and it proved our suspicions right. Through the number, we were able to reach his partner as well," he said.

The Punjab police chief added: "We are 95% sure that the person we have tracked down is his partner as his phone signals were traced to the location of the crime at the time of the incident."

He said that today, at 12pm, "we were ready to raid their residences and apprehend them", but upon reaching the locations, found that they had fled.

"The police were then able to track down the suspects' residences to Qila Sattar Shah, district Sheikhupura," IGP Ghani said.

"Unfortunately, despite raiding both the suspects' residences, we were not able to get hold of them," he added.

He said that owing to information leak in the public domain, the suspects "were aware that the police were closing in on them".

Speaking of Abid, IGP Ghani said the police raided his house — located in fields — in civilian clothes and a car, but he saw a vehicle stop near his house. So, Abid and his wife fled the scene.

"However, we were able to find his daughter inside the house," he said, adding that the police recovered his marriage certificate and other records, which helped confirm things.

"The second suspect, Waqarul Hassan, a resident of Ali Town, had also fled," the Punjab police chief said.

The IGP requested people to help the police catch the suspects and call on 15 to inform the police of their whereabouts. Responding to questions, he clarified that the suspects were "not yet caught".

Ghani said that timely assistance was not provided to the woman as Motorway police were not present in the area.

The chief minister said that to avoid any jurisdictional issues in the future, the government had decided to develop a mechanism to connect all calls to 15 so that the police's response time can be reduced.

Buzdar, responding to a question, said that the Capital City Police Officer Lahore Umar Sheikh had made an "irrelevant" statement and he has been served a show-cause notice.