Accused DG Khan rapist cops claim innocence
DERA GHAZI KHAN: Expressing willingness to turn themselves in on the condition of a fair trial, the Border Military Policemen, accused of raping five girls in Fort Munro near DG Khan, have come...
June 10, 2012
Talking exclusively to Geo News at an unknown location, three of the border military cops said that it was nothing more than an attempt to settle a score for a spat that took place at the checkpost where they were stopped the car carrying the accusers for checking.
“ We had a car halt at the picket for routine checking, but the occupants of the vehicle, five girls and two men, refused to cooperate with us all together forcing us for stricter measures”, said one of the border cops.
He added that he and his fellow officers were only trying to ensure the standard operating procedures following the law of the land, which the people in the car had no respect for.
“ Irked by our persistence, the two men climbed down the car and tried to pick fight with us. We somehow brought the situation under control and the violators went away fuming that too without showing any ID or letting us frisk them or check their vehicle”, they said further.
Claiming innocence, they said they were shocked when they came to see the reports aired by the media about their being set up by the accusers, who in fact should be questioned for not cooperating with as well as assaulting the uniformed officers.
They also offered to produce themselves before any court if a fair trial was promised to them.
Earlier it was reported that three officials and two accomplices of the Dera Ghazi Khan border Levies police allegedly gang-raped five women tourists from Lahore and Bahawalpur at the hill staion Fort Munro resort on Saturday.
According to police, three officials of the Fort Munro border military police — responsible for the maintenance of the law and order situation in the tribal belt — stopped a vehicle that was carrying five women and a man late on Thursday night on the pretext of checking. The five victims were Shama, Aalia and Guria from Data Darbar in Lahore and Saima and Sanam from Bahawalpur. According to the girls’ statements, they were kidnapped by the border officials and taken to a private house where they were gang- raped by three BMP officials by the names of Amjad Ali, Muhammad Zafar, Naveed Iqbal, one civilian Majeed Leghari as well as an unidentified fifth man.
The victims told the media that after they were freed on Friday morning, they reached Dera Ghazi Khan and submitted an application to the political assistant for registration of a case against the accused.
A senior BMP official told the media that following a medical examination performed by medical officer Azra Saeed at the maternity ward of the district headquarter hospital on Saturday, a case was registered against the five accused. The case was lodged on the report of Asif Imran, the fiance of one of the victims. The five girls are due to be presented before a judicial magistrate on Monday to record their statement.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif Saturday took notice of the matter and ordered the Dera Ghazi Khan commissioner to submit a detailed report in this regard within 24 hours.
