Islamabad: Islamabad Police on Sunday said five officers, including Margalla SHO, were suspended a day after a “flawed” raid at the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Barrister Gohar Ali Khan in Islamabad.
Islamabad Police Special Squad raided Barrister’s house in Islamabad’s F/7-2 area on Saturday to arrest fugitives involved in May 9 violence and other anti-state activities, The News reported.
The police manhandled Barrister Gohar’s family, damaged property and took away valuable documents, mobile phones and a laptop, Barrister Gohar’s relatives told the media.
Barrister Gohar was invoking PTI’s election symbol at the time the police raided his house. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa also expressed concern over the incident and directed the Additional Attorney General (AGP) to look into the matter.
In a statement today, the Central Police said that on the afternoon of January 13 (Saturday) at 2:00 p.m., local police reached F-7/2 to arrest the alleged offender on the tip of an informer.
When the police party learned that the said house was the residence of Barrister Gohar, the raiding police party immediately returned, the statement added.
CJP Isa summoned the Islamabad Capital Territory Police Officer (ICCPO) and ordered an inquiry into the matter. “The honorable court directed the ICCPO to personally hear the PTI chairman’s complaint about the incident,” he added.
The statement said the PTI leader was assured that the department would be taken to task if any police officer was found guilty.
The City DPO has been appointed as an Inquiry Officer with instructions to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the matter and submit a detailed report within three days.
“After preliminary investigation, 5 officers including SHO Margalla have been suspended till further orders. An investigation is underway and strict action will be taken against the officials who violated the law.”
Advocate Gohar, who was defending PTI’s case in the Supreme Court at the time, got information about the incident and rushed to his house.
Talking to the media, the PTI leader said that masked policemen barged into his house and deployed in the building and raided the rooms to search the house, adding that they handcuffed one of his sons and tortured his wife and other members of the house.
He claimed that valuables including documents, laptop and mobile phones were taken from his sons. Gohar later took footage of his house with witnesses and submitted it to the Supreme Court bench hearing the case.
Islamabad IGP Dr. Akbar Nasir later visited the house of Barrister Gohar, police said, adding that the raiders went to the house on a tip-off but returned after learning that it was the PTI leader’s house.
The IGP, while talking to the media, said that it was a raid “based on ignorance” but when they got information that it was the residence of advocate Gohar, they returned.
