FAISALABAD: A departmental probe has found an assistant sub-inspector guilty of helping three robbery suspects in their escape from police custody.

According to the probe findings, three suspects -- Ansar, Amjad and Amin -- all residents of Depalpur, Okara district, had been arrested by the Saddar police in connection with two robbery cases (FIRs No 600/19 and 601/19).

Police claimed that during the interrogation the suspects confessed to have robbed the people in the remit of the Khurrianwala police station on May 13 last.

On June 11, the investigation officer, ASI Abdul Razaq, took physical remand of the suspects for further investigation and recovered Rs30,000 from them, besides two pistols.

On June 22, Razaq produced the three suspects in a court and obtained their 14-day judicial remand. However, instead of sending the suspects to the district jail, the ASI kept them in Khurrianwala police lockup on transitory remand.

Next day, he told his seniors that when he was shifting the suspects to the district jail from Saddar police lockup, they snatched his official weapon, handcuffs’ key and his mobile phone from him and held him hostage near Chak 211-RB.

He claimed the suspects took him to Depalpur area, snatched their case record from him and fled.

However, the probe found that the ASI took the suspects from the lockup, left the police station without any police guard and used a private car to transport them, declaring Razaq guilty of helping the suspects in their escape.

It also found front desk officer and muharrar negligent.

It also mentioned poor monitoring by officers who were unaware of the escape for 24 hours until the ASI himself informed them of the matter.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2019