Angry lawyers thrash Danish Sheikh, hurl shoe at accused

FAISALABAD   -    Area Magistrate Raja Ali Raza has accepted the police request for five-day physical remand of the main accused, Danish Sheikh, in medical student Khadija Ghafoor torture case.

After hearing arguments of both sides, the court on Thursday handed over the main accused to the investigation police.

A large number of people gathered outside the court and some of them also tried to beat the accused. Angry lawyers thrashed Danish while another man hurled a shoe at the accused. Meanwhile, the officials of the elite force intervened and took the prime suspect to a nearby court. However, police had made strict security arrangements in and around the court while teams of anti-riot police force were present in the court to tackle any untoward situation.

The women police station had registered a case against 16 accused under sections 376, 382, 342, 354, 149, 148, 337 Lii, 337Ai, 337 Fi and 337v. Six of them were arrested while others were at large.

The court had already sent a woman accused Maham on judicial remand to jail while four others Shoaib, Asghar, Feezan and Tayyab were handed over to the police for two days on physical remand.

Meanwhile, the police said that torture of Khadija had been proved in medicolegal report. City Police Officer Umar Saeed Malik had constituted a inquiry committee to probe the case.

SSP Investigation Cap (retd) M Ajmal would be head of the committee, while SP Madina Town M Nabeel and DSP Kotwali Qazi Farooq are among the members. DSP Legal Shehzad Ilyana, DSP CIA Mudassar Hanif and SHO Women Police Station Farah Batool are the coordinating officers of the committee.

A local industrialist, Sheikh Danish, had proposed Khadija Ghafoor, a classmate of his daughter Ana Danish, but she refused. It infuriated the accused, who along with his 16 accomplices, abducted Khadija and subjected her to physical torture.

28 CRIMINALS HELD, WEAPONS RECOVERED

Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested 28 criminals and recovered drugs and illegal weapons from their possession. According to police, raiding teams arrested four proclaimed offenders and 19 drug pushers besides recovering 6.2-kg hashish and 294 litres of liquor.

Meanwhile, City Traffic Officer Mian M Akmal said the city traffic police were taking steps to control accidents and ensure smooth flow of traffic on roads.

In a crackdown, police arrested five accused and recovered three pistols, two rifles and a number of rounds.

Akmal said traffic police with departments concerned were conducting joint operations against wrong parking and encroachments. He added that performance of all traffic sectors was being monitored on a daily basis. He appealed to people to avoid setting up encroachments on road which create problems for road users.