SIALKOT - Getting criminal cases registered with the police has become an uphill task for the victims of some major theft and dacoity incidents in Sialkot district.

The applicants have to pay frequent visits to local police stations, and the offices of senior police officials, for registration of the cases.

Talking to The Nation, the applicants were of the view that a new trend of not registering theft and dacoity cases was widespread among the police officers. They said that the police officers refused to register dacoity and theft cases, declaring such incidents as bogus without doing proper investigation. They lamented that due to indifferent behaviour of police officers, they had to pay frequent visits to police stations for registration of their complaints.

In Daska, Nadeem Butt (a local dealer of cars showroom) said that he had been visiting Daska city police station for more than a month for the registration of a theft case but to no avail.

He added that some unknown thieves had stolen Rs4 million and 80 tola gold ornaments (worth Rs12 million) from his house at Gali Baghwali, College Road, Daska city the other night. He claimed: “I had submitted an application to Daska city police for the registration of a case, but the police have not registered any case despite the lapse of more than one month. Instead, they have declared my complaint as bogus.” He claimed that he approached senior police officials in Sialkot for registration of the case but received no positive response. “Now, I have decided to submit a petition before the local court,” he added.

In Sialkot, a petitioner named Zafar Abbas of village Syedaanwali-Sialkot told The Nation that Sialkot Saddr police had registered his theft case (No.700/2019) after two weeks of the incident on the orders of a local court, but the same day, police investigator ASI Murtaza Cheema wrote at the end of this FIR that the incident was false and bogus. He said: “Sialkot police have started a new trend of not registering cases of major theft and dacoity incidents. If a case is registered, the police declare the incident as bogus at the end of the FIR.” He said that some unknown thieves had stolen Rs1 million and 60 tola gold ornaments from his house in village Syedaanwali-Sialkot the other night. He added that the police though registered a case, but they made it ineffective by declaring the theft incident as false at the end of the FIR. He demanded proper investigation into his case.

The affected people (including Nadeem Butt of Daska and Zafar Abbas of Syedaanwali-Sialkot) urged Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Inspector General of Police Capt (r) Arif Nawaz Khan, RPO Gujranwala Region Tariq Abbas Qureshi and Sialkot DPO Mustansar Feroz Awan to take serious notice of inordinate delay in registration of cases by Sialkot police.