–IGP suspends Chunian DSP, SHO for ‘inefficiency in dealing with child abductions, rape’
–PM promises ‘major overhaul in Kasur police’, says additional IG to head probe
KASUR: Punjab Police chief Arif Nawaz Khan on Wednesday suspended Chunian Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Naeem Warak and Chunian City SHO Irfan Gill after violent protests broke out in the city over rape and murder of three minor boys.
Four children — aged between eight and 12 years — had been missing since June with 8-year-old Faizan disappearing on Monday night.
According to the police, 12-year-old Imran of Rana Town had gone missing on June 1, eight-year-old Ali Hasnain and nine-year-old Salman in August, and eight-year-old Faizan on September 16.
Only Faizan’s complete body was recovered, whereas the bones of the remaining two recovered from sand dunes are believed to be of Ali and Suleman.
A large number of locals attended Faizan’s funeral prayers offered on Wednesday, followed by tehsil-wide demonstrations.
In a protest against the inefficiency of the police, locals, with the help of trade association of the city and the local bar association, brought the city to a halt. They shut down shops and transport in some areas.
The protesters also targeted a police station and pelted it with stones and burnt tyres on routes leading to the police station, as a wave of anger swept the city. They demanded that the police arrest the culprits behind the incident.
REFORMS IN KASUR POLICE:
In the evening, the prime minister tweeted, saying a major overhaul in the Kasur police “is on the cards”. He said the government has removed Kasur’s DPO and has started proceedings against the SP Investigations.
“There will be accountability for all. Those who do not perform in the interest of the common man will be taken to task,” he said, adding the additional IG has also started a probe into the incidents.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested at least nine people in relation to the case, the district police officer told media-persons on Wednesday.
In a post-mortem report dated September 17, the medical officer of THQ Hospital Chunian, Zuhaib Abid, said that Faizan had died from “asphyxia due to fracture of hyoid bone because of strangulation and neck choking”.
Abid confirmed in the report that the boy had died after being sodomised and physically tortured.
“Above mentioned injuries and act are antemortem (occurring or performed before death) in nature and are sufficient to cause death in [the] ordinary course of nature,” the officer wrote, adding that a final opinion will be given after receiving reports from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA).
On Monday, the remains of at least three of the four children who went missing from Kasur over the past 75 days were found, police said, confirming that all three were brutally raped before being buried underground.
On the other hand, the district police officer (DPO) for Kasur, Abdul Ghaffar Qaisrani, vowed to trace and arrest the suspects in the next three days.
In a statement, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Arif Nawaz Khan said there seemed to be similarities in the incidents of child abduction and murder.
A special team — led by the superintendent of police (SP) for investigation in Kasur, Quddus Baig — was dispatched in this regard and the IGP has directed them to present an initial report in six hours.
Further, forensic teams have collected samples and evidence from the various crime sites. Earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and summoned a report in this regard.