Arrested suspects deny they brought liquor to hospital

KARACHI: The Karachi AIG has constituted an investigation team under the South Zone DIG to investigate alleged recovery of bottles of liquor from a hospital room where incarcerated Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon had been shifted for medical treatment.

A case was registered after Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar paid a surprise visit on Saturday to Ziauddin Hospital where Sharjeel had been shifted. Justice Nisar found bottles of liquor in the PPP MPA’s room. However, a man arrested in connection with the case claimed that the bottles contained honey and oil.

The case has been registered at the Boat Basin police station on the complaint of Karachi Central Jail ASI Mujahid Khan. Three servants of Sharjeel, Shakar Din, son of Aleem, Mushtaq Ali, son of Abdul Shakoor, and Muhammad Jam, son of Mir Muhammad, have been nominated as suspects in the case.

The three-member investigation team has been told to inquire into the incident and submit a report within a week. It comprises South Zone DIG Javed Alam Odho, South Zone 1 Investigation SSP Abdullah Ahmed and East Zone 1 Investigation SP Shabbir Memon.

Hospitals and politicians
Suspects remanded

All the three suspects in the liquor recovery case have been arrested.

They were presented before a South magistrate. The investigation officer (IO) of the case, Sub-Inspector Zulfiqar Ali, requested the court to remand the suspects to police custody.

However, the magistrate turned down the IO’s plea and sent the suspects on judicial remand for 14 days, ordering the relevant authorities to produce the suspects for a hearing on September 15.

Investigations under way

It has been reported that the investigation team has started to collect evidence. It has got hold of closed circuit television (CCTV) footage and records of Sharjeel’s visitors at the hospital.

Samples of Sharjeel’s blood and the contents of the liquor bottles have also been sent for laboratory tests and their reports are expected to arrive today (Monday).

DIG Odho told The Express Tribune that the police had seized CCTV footage of the private hospital along with visitors’ records. The officer maintained that after the CJP’s raid, the bottles were taken away from Sharjeel’s room and shifted elsewhere. According to the DIG, two bottle were recovered with the help of footage.

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The team will also investigate who was responsible for the transfer of liquor bottles from Sharjeel’s room, DIG Odho said. He added that the three arrested suspects were personal employees of Sharjeel.

Initial investigations suggest that the three suspects were not drunk, the investigation team head said, adding that there was a possibility that the bottles were brought to the room by them.

DIG Odho explained that Sharjeel’s room in the hospital had been declared a sub-jail and after the discovery of liquor bottles, jail officials had also initiated their own investigations and his team would exchange information with them.

The officer claimed that his team would carry out transparent investigations and would prepare a report within a week after interrogating all the people concerned. Those who are found perpetrators will be acted against, he asserted.

The DIG South said that the matter was about alcohol consumption so there was no need to obtain mobile phone records. He added that he would try to conclude the investigation in the light of statements of all relevant people and submit the report within a week.

The investigation team has also recorded statements of the three accused. It has been reported that all of them have denied that they brought liquor to the hospital. They have also reportedly claimed that they did not consume alcohol and that they were not allowed to enter Sharjeel’s room.

Source: Express Tribune