Monthly Archives: January 2018

LATEST, PAKISTAN, PANJAB, Rawalpindi

RPO Rawalpindi orders to arresting Rapists of 18 year Old Girl.

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Rawalpindi – Regional Police Officer Wisal Fakhar Sultan Raja gave three-day deadline to Jatli police for arresting a fleeing cop and his accomplice involved in gang rape of a 19-year-old college student, said sources on Thursday.

The RPO issued the order while taking action on complaint lodged by Azhar Mehmood, uncle of the victim girl, before him in open court. The complainant told the RPO that a policeman, Rahil Munir, along with his brother Nabil Mir and sister in law Sadia Nabil had abducted his niece from Mughal Colony, Sukho on November 25, 2017 and had taken her to some unknown location where the two brothers along with another accomplice gang raped the girl. He added that the Police Station Jatli earlier lodged a kidnapping case and later inserted section 376 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in the FIR on statement of the abducted girl she recorded before area magistrate revealing that she had been gang raped by three men.

The complainant further said that investigation officer of the case, Sub-Inspector Akram Niazi, was siding with the accused and had given clean chit to two accused, Nabil and Sadia, and had helped Rahil and Moheen in fleeing from the courtroom after Additional Session Judge Gujar Khan Tariq Khurshid Khawaja rejected their bails in the case.

He appealed to the RPO to provide him with justice. The RPO summoned SHO Jatli Sana Ullah and IO/SI Akram Niazi and snubbed them for their negligence, the sources said, adding that the police officer also ordered the SHO and the IO to arrest and present the rapists before him in next three days or strict departmental action would be taken against them.

On the other hand, Superintendent of Police Saddar Iftikhar ul Haq summoned the victim party and Akram Niazi and recorded their statements. According to the sources, the SP came down hard on the IO for dropping kidnapping and rape charges against two accused without investigating or arresting them.

“The law does not allow an IO to give clean chit to any accused in such a hasty manner and without bringing it into the notice of the SP,” Iftikhar said. He also directed the IO to arrest the rapists in three days and present them before him. Azhar Mehmood, the applicant, while talking to The Nation, hailed the RPO and the SP for enduring to provide them with justice.

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Lahore, LATEST, PAKISTAN, PANJAB

Bilawal dissociates from Rashid’s rant

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LAHORE: PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has distanced his party from the words used for parliament in the public meeting organised by the opposition parties on The Mall here on Wednesday.

The PPP respects the parliament and will always do so, Mr Bhutto-Bhutto tweeted soon after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan cursed the legislative house in his speech.

“The PPP respects Parliament and will always respect Parliament. Cannot help the behaviour of others but will never endorse disrespecting Parliament,” tweeted the PPP chief in response to PTI chairman’s public cursing of the parliament and loud thinking that his party may follow Awami League’s Sheikh Rashid in resigning from the National Assembly.

Some leaders think that the show failed to give any of the stated results.

“The euphoria of this joint public meeting is over; it was just a show of who can speak louder? Who can make more exaggerated claims?” says Awami Workers Party’s Farooq Tariq.

ISLAMABAD, Karachi, LATEST, PAKISTAN, SINDH

A.D. Khawaja to continue working as Sindh police chief, directs SC

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The Supreme Court on Thursday directed A.D. Khawaja to continue functioning in his capacity as the provincial police chief while also accepting the Sindh Government’s appeal challenging a similar ruling by the Sindh High Court.

In September 2017 ─ months after the Sindh Government withdrew the officer’s powers to decide the transfers and postings of senior police officials in the province ─ the Sindh High Court had ordered Khawaja to continue working as the inspector general of police.

A month later, the Sindh government had challenged the SHC’s ruling in the Supreme Court. In its petition, the provincial government had maintained that services of an inspector general of police (IGP) are offered to the province on the will of the provincial governments.

Accepting the petition for hearing on Thursday, the apex court ruled that Khawaja would not be removed from his post even if the federal government consents to it.

“Any steps taken by the federal government regarding the appointment of the inspector general of police Sindh will not have any importance,” Chief Justice Saqib Nisar said during the hearing, adding that Khawaja would keep his post until the trial concludes.

“The appointment of Sindh IGP is conditional to the ruling of the Supreme Court.”

The lawyer representing Sindh government told the court that the SHC had declared the Police Act 2011 as constitutional.

“The SHC also gave A.D. Khawaja the powers to decide transfer of police officers,” argued the lawyer.

“The Sindh High Court has given a very beautiful order,” the chief justice said. “It is worth reading two, three times.”

Tug of war between Khawaja, Sindh govt

Khawaja’s differences with bigwigs of Sindh’s ruling party on issues relating to removal/posting of police officials before by-elections in some constituencies, his stance on a businessman said to be a close associate of PPP leader Asif Zardari and recruitment in the police department are no secret.

The PPP-led Sindh government had twice tried to remove IG Khawaja from his post — first in December, 2016, when it sent him on forced leave and then in April, 2017, when it surrendered his services to the federal government and appointed Dasti, then in grade-21, as the provincial police chief.

In September 2017, the SHC ruled that A.D. Khawaja will continue functioning as the provincial police chief, bringing a brief end to the legal wrangling between civil rights campaigners and the Sindh government over the IGP’s posting.

The provincial government’s decision to remove Khawaja from his post had been seen by some as the PPP’s strategy for the upcoming general election. During the hearings of the petitions, IGP Khawaja offered to leave his post, telling the SHC through his counsel that doing his job had become increasingly difficult under the current circumstances as he has been facing increasing hostility from political quarters, with the provincial government keen to send him packing as soon as possible.

However, the SHC refused to let Khawaja relinquish his post and maintained its stay on his removal till it deliberates the matter.

According to the petitioners, the IGP was sent on a “forced leave” on Dec 19 because the Sindh government was “unhappy” with him over several issues relating to the recruitment of constables and suspension of police officers.

Born in a family of traders in Tando Mohammad Khan, Mr Khowaja had assumed charge as IGP in March 2016 after the removal of then IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali who had found himself at the centre of a National Accountability Bureau investigation into mismanagement of police funds.

ISLAMABAD, KPK, LATEST, PAKISTAN, WORLD

Washington leverage not as big as US believes, says report

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WASHINGTON: Pakistan has claimed more than $23 billion of reimbursements from the US between 2001 and 2017 but only received a little more than half of its claims, about $14bn, shows a report based on official estimates of the reimbursements.

According to this report which has been made available to Dawn, in 2001-02, which was also the first year of the US-led war against terrorism, Pakistan claimed a total of $847.309 million and received $300m.

All reimbursements come from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), which was created after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attack to reimburse an ally for its efforts to combat militancy.

Pakistan has been a major recipient of reimbursements from this fund. But earlier this month, the Trump administration suspended its security assistance to Pakistan, including reimbursements from the CSF.

In 2002-03, as the war intensified and cooperation between the two allies improved, the reimbursements increased as well. During the 2002-03 US fiscal year (Sept 30-Oct 1), Pakistan claimed $845.324m and received $847.154m.

In 2003-04, the claim was for $850.83m but the reimbursement was reduced to $753.14m.

In 2004-05, Pakistan claimed $1,014.880m but was reimbursed $830.521m.

In 2005-06, the reimbursement — $1070.418m — was higher than the claim $1,001.800m, as it was in 2006-07 when Pakistan claimed $1,115.620m and received $1,240.899m.

In 2007-08, Pakistan claimed $1,657.194m and received $655.076m. This trend continued in 2008-09 as well, when Pakistan claimed $1,908.408m and received $912.850m.

In 2009-10, the reimbursements were reduced further. Pakistan claimed $2,179.139m but received $1,293.986m.

From 2010-11, the gap between claims and reimbursements continued to grow. In 2010-11, Pakistan claimed $2,045.841m but received $743.262m.

In 2011-12, Pakistan claimed $2,027.440m but received no reimbursements. This was the year when the US discovered Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and killed him without informing Pakistan. Relations between the two countries began to deteriorate rapidly.

Dues from 2011-12, however, were carried forward to the next fiscal year and in 2012-13 Pakistan claimed $1,555.438m but received $1,806.273m as the amount included reimbursements from the previous year.

In 2013-14, Pakistan claimed $1,542.851m and received $1,050.016m. In 2014-15, Pakistan claimed $1,663.738m and received $1,451.789m.

In 2015-16, Pakistan claimed $1,702.431m and received $936.144m. In 2016-17, Pakistan claimed $1,691.160m and received $550.000m.

Thus, from 2001 to 2017, Pakistan submitted total claims of $23,649.410m and received $14,441.528m as reimbursements from the Coalition Support Fund.

Historically, US economic assistance has remained around one per cent of Pakistan’s budget and Islamabad feels that this deficit can easily be met from other sources.

KPK, LATEST, PAKISTAN

Mardan minor girl assaulted before murder, claim doctors

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MARDAN: The district nazim and local doctors have claimed that the four-year-old girl, whose body was found on Sunday evening, was assaulted before her murder.

District nazim Himayatullah Mayar told Dawn that the toddler was playing outside her house in Gojar Ghari area of the district when unidentified assailant picked her up and took her to the nearby sugarcane field where she was raped and later strangled to death.

The body of the victim was found a day later on Sunday evening.

Mr Mayar said that postmortem report suggested that the victim was raped. He said that there were marks of strangulation on her neck. He said that so far they were satisfied with police investigations. However, he said that police were trying to hide sexual assault on the victim.

“Police are just trying to save the image of provincial government by distorting facts,” said Mr Mayar. He added that so far no functionary of the provincial government visited the family of the victim nor bothered to condemn the incident.

The nazim said that ANP would protest the incident on Wednesday (today). He also criticised media for ignoring the incident.

The doctors and relatives of the victim also suspect that the toddler was raped before she was strangled to death. The girl had gone missing on Saturday evening and her body was found at a sugarcane field on Sunday evening. Police confirmed on Monday that she was strangled to death and there were bruises on her body.

The doctors at the district headquarters hospital and relatives of the girl told this scribe on the condition of anonymity that they were 95 per cent sure that she was raped before being murdered.

One of her relatives accused the district police of hushing up the matter and feeding an alternative story to media and people. He equated the incident with that of Kasur where seven-year-old Zainab Ansari was raped and later strangled to death.

He alleged that police had taken Zahir Mohammad, the complainant in the case and maternal uncle of the victim, to the police station and pressurised him to refrain from talking to reporters.

He said that police had given three days for results of the forensic test of the swabs taken from the body of the victim. “The deadline expires today,” he added.

He said that they would hold protest as well as press conference if police officials and doctors did not give them the real result of the forensic test.