An officer of the Rescue 1122 service was arrested on Saturday in Punjab’s Mandi Bahauddin district in connection with a rape allegation made by a woman, according to police.

Mandi Bahauddin District Emergency Officer Imran Khan confirmed the arrest as well as the suspect’s suspension in a video statement, noting that a complaint had been filed against a rescue and safety officer (RSO) of Rescue 1122 in Malakwal.

“Our head office immediately initiated an inquiry and suspended him,” he said, adding that Rescue 1122 was coordinating with the law enforcement agencies.

A first information report (FIR) was registered today against the suspect at Mandi Bahauddin’s Malakwal police station under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the complainant stated that the suspect had been assaulting her for three years. The suspect also “blackmailed” her by offering employment in exchange for four tolas of gold, it alleged.

According to the suspension order dated January 17 and seen by Dawn.com, the divisional emergency officer formed an inquiry committee to investigate if the suspect was “involved in harassment, intimidation, making unethical videos, pictures and getting bribe by offering employment in the department”.

“[The] officer is hereby placed under suspension and he is directed to submit his written defence to the inquiry committee within seven days of the date of receipt of this order,” it said.

It added that if the suspect did not submit his defence, “it shall be presumed that either he has no defence to offer or declined to offer the same and have accepted the charged”.

Last week, a suspect was arrested in an alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in a village in Punjab’s Gujrat district.

Earlier this month, Punjab police launched new units to investigate sexual crimes across the province in alignment with the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act. These dedicated units were established following the longstanding complaints of defective investigations into rape and other sexual crime cases.