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IO booked on LHC order for spoiling probe in sexual assault case

CHAKWAL: On the orders of the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench, a case has been registered at City police station Chakwal, against Sub-Inspector Mukhtar Ahmad, in-charge of the Special Sexual Offences Investigation Unit (SSOIU), police sources told Dawn on Friday.

The case was filed under Section 155C of the Police Order 2002 and Section 166 of the Pakistan Penal Code, on the complaint of Mohammad Mukhtar, reader to the district police officer.

The action follows allegations that the officer ignored the victim child’s statements, failed to inspect the crime scene at the haveli, and did not include a third suspect in the investigation.

LHC’s Justice Tanveer Ahmad Sheikh has also directed the Anti-Corruption Establishment to register a separate case against SubInspector Mukhtar Ahmad under section 166 of PPC.

On March 3, 2026, a 13-year-old boy of 7th grade was sent by his mother to buy gram flour.

The impoverished family had moved into a rented house near Tattarral Chowk on Bhoun Road just days earlier.

Talking to Dawn, the boy’s mother said when her son did not return, they began searching for him.

According to the mother, the child was abducted on a motorcycle by two suspects, and taken to a small haveli on Bhoun Road.

The haveli belonged to a wellknown dentist, and was adjacent to his clinic.

The dentist was having the premises painted at the time, and the painters had stored their equipment there.Among the workers was a man, a resident of Rahmania locality, who was a friend of both suspects.

The suspects allegedly brought the child to the haveli, where their friend was present as anaccomplice.

When a servant of the dentist spotted them, the suspects panicked, took the child away, and drove toward a deserted place where they assaulted him. Within the next two to three days, one suspect was reportedly shot in the leg, while the other was arrested unharmed. The third suspect was not arrested. The victim’s mother said Sub-Inspector Mukhtar Ahmad and two other officials humiliated her and her husband at every stage.

When a medical examination in Lahore was required, Mukhtar Ahmad allegedly told them to arrange an APV vehicle themselves, or pay Rs35,000 so he could arrange it.

‘We are poor people. My husband works as a labourer in the vegetable market. How could we afford the cost of a vehicle,’ the mother said.

She added that they sold their 15-marla plot in the village to fight the case. Legal fees and trips to the High Court have already cost them Rs500,000. They are now facing hunger, while the child remains traumatised, she added.

The bail petitions of both suspects are scheduled for hearing in the High Court on June 8. The court also directed DPO Chakwal to appear along with the FIR against the IO.