LAHORE: In a major breakthrough in the motorway gang-rape investigation, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar confirmed on Monday that police have arrested one of the two suspected perpetrators, who also confessed to committing the gruesome crime during interrogation and his DNA matched with the samples collected from the crime site.
"In the heart-wrenching Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape incident, accused Shafqat Ali has been arrested who also confessed to his crime and his DNA samples matched with the rape survivor," the chief minister was quoted as saying on twitter. About the prime suspect in the case, Buzdar said that teams of law enforcement agencies are making continuous efforts for the arrest of accused Abid Ali which is expected soon. Meanwhile, Punjab IGP Inam Ghani said in the light of the scientific analysis and investigation of the evidence found at the crime scene, one of the prime suspects, Shafqat Ali, son of Allah Ditta, resident of Haroonabad, Bahawalnagar district, has been arrested.
The IG said that Shafqat's DNA had matched with the samples obtained from the crime scene. He added that just as the Punjab police worked day and night to arrest Shafqat, the fugitive suspect, Abid Malhi, will also be arrested soon and brought to justice.
Earlier in the day, Abbas, the brother-in-law of accused Waqar-ul-Hassan appeared before the Model Town CIA DSP Hasnain Haider and surrendered himself. He claimed in his statement that he was using the SIM card registered in Hassan's name and that he had contacted Abid Ali around 10 days ago.
He further claimed that he worked with Abid in a steel factory and had no other connections with him. Like Waqar, the DSP said Abbas too denied his involvement and requested for carrying out his DNA test to corroborate his claim.
He said he was ready to present himself for interrogation at any forum. Abbas's family has also pledged his innocence on TV channels, asserting that he had no criminal record.
Repeated attempts (via calls and text messages) were made to contact DIG Investigations Lahore Shahzada Sultan and SSP Investigations Zeeshan Asghar but they were not available for comments. However, sources said that Shafqat in his statement confessed that he along with Abid Ali had sexually assaulted the woman.
"When the woman refused to come out of her car, we smashed the door glass, pulled out her children and took them away with us in a nearby deserted field. As a result, the woman chased us and we sexually assaulted her," the sources claimed, quoting the alleged rapist.
They added that Shafqat was arrested by police from Depalpur on Sunday night on the indication of Waqar-ul-Hassan.
They alleged that Shafqat has a previous criminal record and there is a strong possibility that he was the co-accused of the prime suspect, Abid Ali Malhi. They added that the Punjab police have nearly traced the entire gang and the case would be solved within a short period.
The sources said that Hassan during the interrogation had revealed that Malhi had been carrying out crimes with a man named Shafqat for some time. He said like Ali, Shafqat too is from Bahawalnagar and they are friends. He also disclosed that Abbas, who was using his mobile phone SIM, had some links with primary suspect Abid Ali.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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