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LAHORE:
The Lahore police were unable to arrest till Friday
night officials of the US Consulate involved in crushing to
death a young man, Ubaidur Rehman, under the wheels of their
vehicle when they were speeding to help rescue their aide,
Raymond Davis.
An investigator said the police contacted the US Consulate
on Friday to get details about the backup vehicle, LZN-6970,
and a car, LEC-10-5545, used by the alleged killer, but they
refused to provide information. On the other hand, families
of Faizan Haider and Faheem Shamshad claimed that the police
were pressurising them to withdraw the cases.
Capital City Police Officer Aslam Tarin told journalists the
accused, Raymond Davis, was in police custody on physical
remand and another case had been registered against him on
possessing an illegal weapon. The CCPO said SSP
Investigation Zulfiqar Hameed was interrogating the accused
under his supervision on merit without succumbing to any
internal or external pressure.
About the pistols recovered from the two youths, Tarin said
the families of the deceased have not provided any weapon
licences and the police were checking details of the weapons
and mobile phones, recovered from the deceased. He said no
American embassy official or the US Consulate had contacted
them thus far and the accused was in Pakistan on a visit
visa.
A police source said the Lytton Road police on Friday
received two applications against Faizan Haider and Faheem
Shamshad for registration of robbery cases against them.
Sources said two men — Dr Mudassar and Sheharyar — in their
applications alleged that Faizan and Faheem looted mobile
phones and cash at gunpoint from them in Mozang Chungi and
LOS areas, respectively at about 1:15 to 1:30 pm. Dr.
Mudassar and Sheharyar claimed that they did not inform the
police about the mishaps because they were panicked. They
said they identified both Faizan and Faheem after seeing the
footage on the local television channels. However, when
contacted the police officials concerned refused to comment
on the issue. They refused to give details about the
applications. CCPO Aslam Tarin also denied receiving any
applications against the deceased.
To another question, the CCPO said Raymond Davis confessed
that he had killed the two persons in self-defence.
The police were unable to give any satisfactory answer to
the question what Raymond Davis was doing in Mozang Chungi
area at the time of the incident. The police have beefed up
security at and around the US Consulate in order to avoid
any untoward incident.
Agencies add: A judicial magistrate on Friday handed over US
national Raymond Davis to the police on six-day physical
remand. Raymond was brought to the court in an armoured
personnel carrier, amid strict security. He told the court
he had killed both persons in self-defence.
The police sought eight-day remand for interrogation;
however, Judicial Magistrate Zafar Sial granted six days and
directed the police to present the accused before the court
on February 3. Meanwhile, the post-mortem reports of the
three young men were released on Friday.
According to the report, Ubaidur Rehman suffered head and
brain injuries, which caused his death. The second victim,
Faheem, received four bullets in his stomach, back, legs and
head, while the third victim, identified as Faizan Haider,
also received three bullets each in leg, back and waist. The
body of Ubaidur Rehman was handed over to his family.
Meanwhile, the US said it would cooperate fully with
Pakistani investigation into an incident in Lahore, after an
American consulate worker shot dead two men. “Well, this
happened within Pakistan. There’s a Pakistani investigation.
We will cooperate fully,” Philip J Crowley, State Department
spokesman, said confirming the American worker’s involvement
in the incident.
However, the spokesman added, the State Department had not
released the name of the US Consulate employee. “I can
confirm that an employee at the US Consulate in Lahore was
involved in Thursday’s incident. It is under investigation.
We have not released the identity of our employee at this
point. And reports of a particular identity that are
circulating through the media are incorrect,” he said.
The US embassy also regretted the Lahore incident. Spokesman
for the US embassy in a statement issued here on Friday
regretted the loss of life in the incident. The spokesman
said, “The US Embassy is working with the Pakistani
authorities to determine the facts.”
the killers of Syed Badshah. He said that Karachi’s peace was being
destroyed |
