Suspects in motorway rape incident identified

Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) is conducting raids for arrests of the criminals

LAHORE (Dunya News) – In a major breakthrough in motorway gang-rape case, police have identified both criminals involved in the horrific crime. The prime suspect was identified as Abid Malhi after samples matched with his DNA from criminal database of 2013. The second suspect has been identified as Waqar ul Hasan Shah and both have been involved in various crimes across Punjab in previous years.

According to details, the DNA of suspect Abid Malhi – a resident of Fort Abbas – matched from the sample obtained from the dress of the victim. Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) is conducting raids for the arrest of the criminal. However, the rapists are still at large.

A picture of the central perpetrator of Wednesday night’s heinous crime, Abid Malhi of Fort Abbas, has also been released. He and his accomplice raped a woman on the motorway in Gujjarpura area of Lahore late Wednesday night.

According to police, the criminal Abid Ali is a resident of Fort Abbas District, Bahawalnagar and his DNA profile matched with DNA samples recovered from the victim’s clothing.

Dunya News has obtained the criminal record of Abid Ali, who has been in the criminal database since 2013 for another rape case. Abid Ali has not been arrested yet but CTD raids are being carried out to arrest him at the earliest.

Earlier Developments

Police decided to include relatives of the affected woman in investigations along with the claimant. It was decided to conduct DNA tests of all residents of Karol Ghati as samples of fifteen arrested suspects did no match.

The investigation committee formed by Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat and Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani inspected the crime scene.

The authorities said that the investigation was being carried out according to the latest scientific methods and assured that the culprits would be nabbed soon.

CM Usman Buzdar said in his statement that it was a test case which would be brought to logical conclusion soon and the culprits would be given exemplary punishments. The CM directed to authorities to keep him informed of the entire progress.

Police contacted the victim to record her statement but her family apologized from recording the statement citing that her health condition was not good at the moment. The focal person said it was understandable and agreed to record the statement later.

Petition for Judicial Commission

A petition had been filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) to form a judicial commission in the case in which the Punjab government, CM Sardar Usman Buzdar, IGP Inam Ghani and Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh were made parties.

The plaintiff had taken the stance that the CCPO accused the affected woman of the incident and the Punjab Police had completely failed in providing protection to people.

Crime ratio increased due to the negligence and non-professional behavior of the police, the petitioner said while requesting the court to form a judicial commission.

‘Conclusion in a Few Hours’

Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan hoped that the case would reach its logical conclusion in a few hours and said CM Usman Buzdar was completely monitoring the proceedings.

Fayyaz Chohan said in a statement that the Punjab Home Department, Punjab Forensic Science Agency, police and all other institutions were busy in investigations. The rapists would soon be nabbed, he said.

He said, “Media and official spokespersons are requested not to spread fake news regarding the matter. Information coming from only the CM, information and law ministers, IG and home department will be considered correct.

“Members of the media strategy committee should not issue any policy statement as information minister is the only spokesperson of the province. The government is trying its best to arrest the culprits and the nation should remain hopeful.”

Fake News

Punjab IGP Inam Ghani declared different news on media and social media regarding arrest of rapists in the case as fake and contrary to facts. He said no culprit had been arrested as yet. The IG remarked that he was monitoring the investigations myself and would share news if any success was achieved.

“Such unverified news not only affect the interrogations but also mislead people. The pictures of the victim and the criminals making rounds on social media are also fake. Media should act responsibly and not share any news without verification. People should trust us. We will arrest the culprits,” he said.

Ten More Arrests

Police arrested ten suspects involved in serious crimes while conducting operation near Karol village and shifted them to unknown place for investigation.

DNA tests of the suspects were scheduled. SSP Investigation Zeeshan Asghar told that it would take at least five days to obtain the test results. The authorities had collected samples of 53 suspects in total.