Five police officials including SHO Margalla police station suspended for raiding PTI leader Barrister Ali Gohar Khan’s residence
ISLAMABAD, Jan 14 (SABAH): The federal capital’s police said on Sunday that a station house officer (SHO) of Margalla police station and four other police officials have been suspended for carrying out a raid at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Gohar Ali Khan’s residence.
The spokesperson of Islamabad Police in a statement issued on twitter on Sunday, said an inquiry was conducted following the incident. He added that after receiving information from an informant that a wanted individual was present at the property located in sector F-7, the police team raided the residence but withdrew after discovering that the house belonged to Barrister Gohar.
In response to the incident, IGP Islamabad Dr. Akbar Naseer Khan instructed the DPO to appoint an inquiry officer and compile a detailed report within three days. Following these directives, SHO Margalla and the five officers were suspended pending the completion of the inquiry.
The Islamabad police emphasised that the inquiry is still ongoing, and any officers found violating the law will face stringent legal action.
Previously, the capital police stated that the city DPO had gone to Gohar’s residence on the directives of Khan.
“DPO City has conversed with Barrister Gohar’s nephew, Muhammad Yusuf, and gathered initial information,” the capital city police mentioned in a post on X. “Subsequent steps will be taken once Barrister Gohar concludes the court proceedings”
“The law applies uniformly to all, and no exemptions will be granted. If any police officer is found at fault, appropriate action will be initiated against him.”
The PTI leader, while talking to the media, said that masked police personnel broke into his house and spread out in the building and stormed into rooms to search the house, adding that they handcuffed one of his sons and tortured his wife and other members of the house.
He asserted that they took away valuables including documents, laptop, and snatched away mobile phone sets from his sons. Gohar, later, captured footage of his house with witnesses and submitted it before the Supreme Court bench hearing the case.
Islamabad IGP Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan later visited the house of Barrister Gohar, the police had said and added that the raiding party went to the house on a tip-off but came back after learning that it was the house of the PTI leader.
The IGP, while talking to the media, said that it was an “ignorance-based” raid but as they got information that it was the residence of Barrister Gohar, they came back.
The incident occurred while Gohar was away attending the Supreme Court hearing on his party’s electoral symbol, the ‘bat’.
During the hearing, the PTI chief informed Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa that four pickup trucks were present at his home during the raid. The intruders not only physically harmed his family members but also confiscated essential items such as a computer and important documents.
Seeking the court’s understanding, Barrister Gohar requested to be excused from the ongoing hearing and promptly left the premises.
Later, the CJP called Additional Attorney General Chaudhry Amir Rehman to the rostrum and expressed concerns over the incident. “Nothing like this should happen if it is happening,” he said.