Police appear to have shelved the inquiry in a stowaway case that took place exactly a year ago and are without a clue on the missing boy in the case, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday.
The stowaway case came to the surface when a 19-year-old boy was found dead on the rooftop of a house in Al-Faisal Town in the North Cantonment Police Station precincts on January 13, 2011.
The incident was reported by the owner of the house, Haji Muhammad Afzal. The body was taken to the Mayo Hospital morgue for autopsy and after five days of the incident, the police had managed to identify the boy as Muhammad Qasim Siddique, a resident of the Naqshbandi Bazaar, Zaitoon Colony, Daroghawala, Baghbanpura. He had gone missing on January 10 last year along with his friend Ali Jamshed.
An inquiry into the incident was initiated by both police and Civil Aviation authorities, however neither of the two enquiry reports were made public. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had also constituted a three-member committee, comprising of Civil Aviation Joint Secretary Arshad Farooq, Air Commodore Gulzar Janjua and Squadron Leader Mujahid. The said enquiry committee briefed the prime minister that the incident was a result of a security lapse at the Allama Iqbal International Airport as the boy was trying to escape to Dubai by hiding himself on the wheel of a plane.
Rumours kept appearing regarding the recovery of Ali Jamshed and his arrest by the law enforcement agencies but neither police nor Civil Aviation officials confirmed his recovery or arrest.
Investigations Wing Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that the Investigations Wing had transferred the case to Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) after making its efforts. However, the missing boy could not be recovered. He added that Ali Jamshed’s family had stopped contacting police which had slowed the investigation process. The SSP said that Ali’s family would be contacted in a few days to restart investigations. He alleged that the Ministry of Defence had not responded positively to police requests to be provided the ministry’s enquiry report.
Ali Jamshed’s family refused to comment on the issue, saying that the authorities had stopped them from uttering a single word on the matter, while their neighbours termed their attitude towards the incident suspicious.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Muhammad Siddique, the father of the deceased, said that the law enforcement agencies had not provided them with the facts behind the case.
