Police involves a blind in dacoity case

Lahore: A physical remand granted by a judicial magistrate in a dacoity case registered against a blind citizen has again questioned judicial system and performance of City Police.

The unprofessional conduct of the judicial magistrate and police surfaced when a Lahore High Court Justice Ali Baqar Najfi cancelled physical remand of a special citizen after declaring it illegal.

A local citizen Nazir Ahmad filed a habeas corpus petition for recovery of his relative Hafiz Muhammad Naeem. Nazir said the Liaquatabad Police illegally entered his house, arrested his relative Hafiz Naeem and looted valuables from the house. He pleaded the court to recover the detainee from illegal custody of the police.
On the court summons, police claimed that the arrested hafiz Naeem was involved in a dacoity case and he was on physical remand. The court cancelled the remand after knowing that the accused was a blind by birth. Justice Najfi rejected the claims and observed remand orders were illegal as the accused was blind since birth.

Condemning the human violations by the police, the judge observed the case exposed the flaws in the system which ought to ensure a fair investigation.

The court cancelled the remand orders and confirmed ad-interim bail earlier granted to the accused Hafiz Muhammad Naeem. He would have to furnish a surety bond of Rs20, 000 required to fulfill legal formalities.
Justice Ali Baqir Najfi also directed to forward a copy of the order to the DIG (Investigation) for ‘progress’ of his department.