Motorway rape case: Alleged co-accused Waqar appears before police

Waqar has pleaded not guilty and denied all the charges against him.

LAHORE (Dunya News) – As per latest developments in motorway gang rape case, alleged co-accused Waqar-ul-Hassan on Sunday has appeared at CIA police station in Lahore‘s Model Town, day after the investigation officers identified prime suspects involved in the case.

According to details, the suspect has pleaded not guilty and denied all the charges against him. 

Meanwhile, police sources told that Waqar-ul-Hassan’s relative Abbas is also allegedly involved in the case. Abbas is likely to be presented before the team for interrogation, the sources further stated.

Exclusively talking to Dunya News, Punjab information minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan said that mobile phone data of suspects Abid Ali and Waqar-ul-Hassan was recovered through geo-fencing. The security personnel are continuously carrying out raids to arrest the culprits, he told. Chohan further said that Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar is personally monitoring the case.

Suspects in motorway rape incident identified

Earlier, pictures of both suspects Abid Malhi and his accomplice Waqarul Hasan Shah in Lahore Motorway rape incident were released to the public.

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

His accomplice Waqarul Hasan’s photograph was also released by IG Punjab during a press conference with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Saturday. The Punjab government had set a Rs 2.5Mn reward for each suspect’s arrest.

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 took the stance that 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.

PM Imran Khan takes notice of Lahore motorway rape incident

Prime Minister Imran Khan took notice of recent sexual assault crimes reported in Lahore and Karachi, specifically the rape of a woman on Lahore Ring Road and murder of a 5-year-old child after being raped in Karachi.

Federal Minister Faisal Vawda called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in which the political and national situation was discussed in detail.

Faisal Vawda raised the issue of Marwa, the 5 year old girl who was killed after being raped in Karachi and another rape incident that took place with a woman on Lahore Ring Road late Wednesday night.

Taking note of these incidents, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that such crimes are extremely shameful for any civilized society, law enforcement agencies have been tasked with arresting the culprits at the earliest.

 Committees formed to investigate incident

Punjab government constituted a high level committee to investigate the motorway rape case

The committee will be headed by Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat while Additional Chief Secretary Home Department Momin Agha, Additional IG Special Branch, DIG Investigation Punjab and DG Forensic Science Agency will be the other members.

The committee has been tasked to complete the investigation within three days and submit the report to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

IG Punjab Inam Ghani has also formed a six-member special investigation committee to investigate the Motorway rape case.

DIG Investigation Lahore Shahzada Sultan will head the committee while SSP Investigation Lahore Zeeshan Asghar, RO Special Branch Lahore Jahanzeb Nazir, RO CTD Lahore Naseebullah Khan, SP CIA Lahore Asim Iftikhar and in charge Gender Crimes Civil Lines Lahore Miss Fiza Azam will be the other members of the committee.

Culprits of motorway gang rape will be apprehended soon: Usman Buzdar

Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar said that the perpetrators of Lahore motorway gang rape will be arrested soon.

While talking exclusively to Dunya News in program ‘Dunya Kamran Khan Kay Sath’, the CM said that the area where the incident took place has been geo-fenced.

We cannot neglect our duties. On this incident, we have formed a committee headed by the Home Secretary. Whatever the outcome, we will present it to the nation, he added.

"We will soon arrest the culprits," he said. Every aspect of this incident will be investigated, we will not run away from our duties, he assured.

Rape victim should have been more careful, taken safer route: CCPO Lahore

Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh said while speaking exclusively to Dunya News that the culprits involved in motorway rape incident will be arrested within 48 hours.

The CCPO noted that the affected family departed Defence Area of Lahore after midnight and took Motorway route instead of GT Road, that too without adequate fuel.

“The woman called her brother instead of police and her brother telephoned the motorway police at 130 to send a police mobile.

“There are three villages within the five kilometer radius of the incident spot. The suspects broke the glass window of the victim’s car. Blood samples have been taken from the glass. Latest technology of rural and urban police is being used in the investigation.”

Case background

On September 9, 2020, mother of two children was looted and raped at gunpoint on motorway near Gujjarpura area of the Punjab province.

Sana was reportedly travelling in a car along with her two children when some unknown accused overpowered her. After raping and robbing the victim of valuables and cash (1 lakh), the suspects escaped from the scene.

On receipt of the information, the police reached the spot and shifted the woman to a hospital. The police said the process to identify the accused through the Safe City cameras was underway.