ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Saturday ordered Secretary Interior Major (r) Azam Suleman Khan to arrest the ‘most wanted police officer’ in cybercrime and two other cases, SP Junaid Arshad, who is still at large as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has failed to trace him, Pakistan Today has learnt.
During a hearing on September 15, CJP Nisar had ordered the immediate arrest of the then Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) deputy inspector general (DIG) Junaid Arshad, a BS-18 officer, for allegedly uploading objectionable pictures of his ex-wife, Ayesha Subhani on social media, but to no avail. His name was also put on the Exit Control List (ECL) on the directions of the CJP.
Earlier, in an application addressed to the chief justice, Arshad’s former wife had said the DIG was an influential police officer who attempted to humiliate her by uploading her pictures on social media. She said that the police seemed reluctant to ensure his arrest despite the trial court’s decision to dismiss his bail. The case is being heard by the Human Rights Cell of the Supreme Court (SC).
The application stated that DIG Arshad had posted immoral photographs of his former wife on social media with the intent to defame her. It said that despite his request for bail being rejected by a trial court, the police had not taken him into custody for prosecution.
Three different cases have been registered against the said accused, but he never joined the legal proceedings on any forum.
It is pertinent to mention here that in one of the cases lying pending against the suspended police officer, the Criminal Court Muzaffarabad Additional Session Judge (ASJ) Mian Naeem Ullah is himself a complainant against the criminal act of forging a bail document on behalf of the ASJ by the said officer.
SP Junaid Arshad hails from the Police Service of Pakistan, 34th Common, and before that, he was in 27th common of Customs Group. Sources privy to the development said that Junaid Arshad switched from Customs Group to Police Service through the reference of his father-in-law, Syed Zahid Hussain, who was then the Lahore High Court (LHC) chief justice and is the incumbent justice at Federal Services Tribunal.
According to the FIA Cybercrime Wing, Arshad made a fake Facebook account with the help of a friend and sent pictures of his wife to her family to prove her alleged immorality after she refused to allow him to marry another woman. The complaint with the agency was registered by Arshad’s wife.
During the investigation, FIA came to the conclusion that Arshad was behind the creation of the fake account and registered a case against him. Arshad managed to flee after the court rejected his bail and is still at large.
Several attempts were made to contact FIA Director General Bashir Memon for his comments but he did not respond.
When contacted, Director Cybercrime Capt (r) Shoaib told Pakistan Today that FIA is trying its best to nab him at all cost. “We are monitoring his phone numbers. His father was also arrested by FIA and now he is on bail,” he said.
He said that FIA has also announced the head money of Rs0.5 million for information on him. “A special team headed by Cybercrime Additional Director Hammad Raza in Lahore is investigating the case and has left no stone unturned to get him,” he said adding that he is just an absconder for us like many others after he was dismissed from police services.
