SAHIWAL: The local circle office of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) arrested a police constable for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs300,000 to help five people secure acquittal in a criminal case registered at Harappa Police Station.
Reports said Niaz Ahmed, a resident of village 188/9-AL, along with seven to eight other people, was nominated in a case registered under Sections 336/337, 148, 149 and 337-A(i) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in 2021.
Niaz was a close friend of Atta Farid, who was then serving as a constable at the DPO Office, Sahiwal. Atta allegedly offered to have five of the nominated persons declared innocent by persuading the Harappa station house officerto exclude them from the case. He allegedly demanded Rs300,000 for the task.
On Nov 6, 2021, Niaz reportedly handed over Rs300,000 in cash to Atta at the district courts in the presence of two witnesses, Bahawal Sher and Yasin. Atta allegedly assured him that the SHO would act as agreed.
However, on Nov 10, 2021, the SHO declared all the nominated persons accused in the case, following which their interim bail was cancelled. When Niaz demanded the return of his money, Atta allegedly returned only Rs50,000 and retained the remaining amount.
Niaz subsequently approached the ACE circle office. An inquiry, conducted by Circle Officer Arshad Zaman Watto, confirmed the allegations. Following judicial approval, ACE officials arrestedAtta Farid.
A case was registered against the constable under Section 161 of the PPC and Section 5(2)/47 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on Niaz’s complaint. The accused was taken into custody and sent to jail.
BIKES RECOVERED: The district police recovered around 35 stolen motorcycles, valued at Rs3.8 million, and returned them to their rightful owners during a ceremony held at the Committee Hall on Saturday morning.
DPO Usman Tipu handed over the keys of the recovered motorcycles to the owners. Speaking to the media, he said police had arrested 22 criminals belonging to five motorcycle-lifting gangs. These gangs were traced, tracked, and apprehended through operations led by the station house officers of Ghala Mandi, Fateh Sher and Farid Town police stations.