Rawalpindi-A group of police personnel posted at Tarnol Police Station is allegedly involved in swindling thousands of rupees from mobile shop owners and other dealers associated with money transfer business apparently blackmailing and threatening them of implication in bogus cases, sources told The Nation on Monday.
The group have tasked a cop said to be driver of mobile van of PS Tarnol of compiling data including cell numbers of all mobile shop owners and money transfer dealers running businesses in limits of PS Tarnol and submit the list to the SHO, sources said.
Later, the shop keepers are summoned in the police station allegedly by the SHO and are provided a list of mobile numbers forcing to transfer money on the cell numbers mentioned in the list, they said.
Sources said that a mobile shop owner Shafi son of Daain Badshah was phoned by the officers of the PS Tarnol on 21/8/2019 and summoned in police station where he was forced to transfer Rs225,000 on 5 cell numbers while impersonating the cell number holders as close relatives of the SHO and DSP. In a bid to save their skins, the SHO and his subordinates registered a case against the caller and appointed ASI Ishaq as investigation office to launch probe into allegations.
Sources revealed that SHO and his subordinates returned Rs150,000 to Shafi and promised him to pay back the remaining Rs75,000 soon after the shopkeeper threatened the cops of leaking fraud of police to media, something seeking attention of Inspector General of Police Islamabad Amir Zulfiqar.
In the FIR number 382/19, the applicant Shafi told police that he had been running a mobile shop ‘Shafi Mobiles’ and also dealt with money transfer business in Tarnol.
He alleged that a person rang him up from a mobile number impersonating as SHO Tarnol ordering him to come to police station immediately along with mobile phone used for transferring money as he (the SHO) wanted to transfer amount to his friends.
“My brother Inayyat transferred Rs225,000 on five cell numbers from the office of SHO,” the applicant added.
Shafi requested the police to register a case against the unknown man who swindled money from him while impersonating as DSP and SHO.
ASI Ishaq, who is investigating the case, however, when contacted by The Nation for his version, offered different lame versions. First, the ASI said that he had traced the unknown caller and his accomplices who had been operating from Karachi and looting people by impersonating as DSP and SHO.
Then, the ASI swiftly changed his stance and replied how it could be possible for police officers to stop anybody from transferring money while sitting in police station when this correspondent questioned him as to why Shafi was summoned in police station for money transfer.
He said that no police official of PS Tarnol was involved in the crime. When this correspondent asked the ASI as to why the SHO had returned the applicant Rs 150,000 with a promise of giving back remaining Rs75,000 in couple of days if the SHO or any other cop was not involved in the crime, ASI simply replied, “Well, I don’t know about this aspect of the case,” He said that he was engaged in Muharram security duties and will fly to Karachi to handcuff the accused soon.
DSP Khalid Awan, the PSO to IG Islamabad, did not respond to queries sent to him a week ago regarding involvement of cops of PS Tarnol in the heinous crime and suspension of the official mobile van driver for his involvement in collecting extortion from drug peddlers and compiling data of shop keepers and money transfer dealers.