Even though Islamabad Police SSP (Operations) Yaseen Farooq is known for his ‘close ties’ with former interior minister Rehman Malik and other leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party, the caretaker government is yet to replace him with an impartial officer.
NA-48 candidate Hasan Shahzad has also lodged a written complaint with the Election Commission of Pakistan, requesting it to remove the police officer concerned but no action has been taken so far.
A senior officer recently alleged that SSP Yaseen had lodged three false cases against an innocent citizen, Muhammad Atif, to “oblige a friend”.
After spending several nights in police custody, Muhammad Atif from Lahore finally managed to walk free after Islamabad Police Deputy Inspector General Sultan Azam Temuri took notice of the incident.
The first case against Atif was lodged by Aabpara Police Station on March 8. He was booked on a complaint by Muhammad Jehanzaib, who alleged that his friend Atif had stolen Rs 400,000 from his house. Taking ‘notice’ of the FIR, the SSP directed a police inspector to bring the accused from Lahore to Islamabad.
Later, police produced Rs 400,000 in the court, contending that they had recovered the money from Atif and sought further remand for more recovery.
The second case was lodged with Sabzi Mandi Police which sought custody of the accused, claiming that Atif was involved in a theft case in their jurisdiction. Sabzimandi Police also managed to get his physical remand from the court. As soon as the remand expired, the ‘accused’ was involved in yet another case.
However, by this time Atif’s mother managed to approach DIG Temuri and pleaded the injustice being meted out to her son. An enquiry was initiated which proved that all cases registered against Atif were frivolous.
In his report, the DIG stated: “The citizen has been implicated because the SSP wanted to oblige a friend in a property dispute.”
The enquiry report further revealed that the mobile data of the accused also indicated that he was not even present in Islamabad when the thefts, for which he had been charged, allegedly took place.
The DIG ordered quashing of all three FIRs but no action was taken against the SSP who is still posted as Islamabad SSP Operations.
SSP Yaseen was also present in the Islamabad High Court when former dictator Pervez Musharraf walked away without even a finger being raised for his arrest even though the court had denied him bail.
“During the PPP government, SSP Yaseen enjoyed very close relations with Rehman Malik. We were all expecting that the interim government would remove him but nothing has happened so far,” a junior police official said.
Despite repeated attempts SSP Yaseen was not available for comments.