Twelve days on, despite having the best technology and Safe City Project in place, Islamabad Police, CIA, and CID have failed to trace the unidentified persons who put Daesh’s flag in a daylight on a city’s thoroughfare, which created panic among the residents.
A senior police official while commenting on the matter said that the committee which was formed to investigate the matter was still clueless. ‘If the 1560 surveillance cameras which were installed under the Safe City Project at the cost of over Rs 13 billion didn’t capture anything, it means it is good for nothing,’ he said.
Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), Crime Investigation Department (CID), and Islamabad Police are still investigating the matter but all in vain.
It is noted that on September 24, unidentified people hoisted an Islamic State (Daesh) flag at Islamabad Expressway near Iqbal Town under the nose of the police.
Hours later, the police received a call at 11:45am from a passerby who informed them about the appearance of IS flag, following which, the police rushed to the location but before they reached the flag that read “Khilafat is coming” was removed.
‘No one should have to be feared by any such development, there is no IS roots in the capital, police is seriously considering that it may be a planned move just to create panic by someone or some group, though, as it made headlines in media, they may succeed to some extent,’ said a senior police official of the capital police while requesting anonymity.
He further elaborated that the message written in English, “Khilafat is Coming”, is not a sign of Daesh. ‘Maybe someone admired by the policies and strategies of IS want to join them, this was signal which is something serious, if someone had gone to that extent to put his/her life in danger by hanging a IS similar flag on the main road in a daylight, then he/she can go to any extent,’ he cautioned.
Upon contact, an official who is also a part of the investigation said that we have not even found any fingerprint, video, credible information about the unidentified persons, or any eyewitness who can describe that who, when, and how they came, hanged IS flag, and went safely while no one noticed them.
This shows the incompetence of our law enforcement departments. It may be mentioned here that the Maulana Abdul Aziz, a cleric of Lal Masjid, Aabpara, has repeatedly stated that he “respected” IS because of the similarity in their missions and had no repentance over supporting it. Aziz had also said, “Though we [Lal Masjid] have no direct link with the leadership of the IS, we had thought about the issue and decided to promote the mission and message of IS.”
Pakistan has repeatedly denied the presence of the IS in the country while it does acknowledge the presence of the outfit in Afghanistan with apprehension. Over the past year, the country witnessed a number of incidents where IS pamphlets had appeared. Last year, pamphlets appeared in Gujrat, while in 2014 pro-IS leaflets were also seen in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations, who formed the investigation committee, was not available for comments on the said matter.