-Two traffic cops fined for being absent
By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: A camera installed on a Motorway Toll Plaza failed to clearly show the face of the driver of Kashmala Tariq’s vehicle that killed four youth in a traffic accident in G-11 at Islamabad’s Srinagar Highway. The ambiguity about who was driving the vehicle raised questions about the performance of the cameras installed on the motorway.
Kashmala Tariq’s vehicle crashed into a Mehran car, killing four youth including three close friends Mohammad Anis, Mohammad Adil and Haider Ali alias Soni and Farooq (security guard at King Abdullah Hospital in Mansehra). It means now there is no lead left to recognize the face of the driver.
Federal Ombudsman for Protection of Women against Harassment Kashmala Tariq denied all charges against her husband and son. The main reason why the camera did not identify the face of the driver was because the vehicle was e-tagged and the driver did not open his windscreen while passing through the toll plaza.
Islamabad Police have not yet reached a final conclusion as who was behind the steering. The police have already decided to include Kashamala Tariq and her husband Waqas in the investigation. Both will record their statements in front of the investigation officer (IO).
Meanwhile, police, Wednesday decided to grill Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women Kashmala Tariq and her son Azlan Khan over the killing of four youth on Srinagar Highway. Police said they had decided to grill Kashmala and her son and the lawmen sent a message over the probe.
Two traffic cops, on the other hand, have been fined for being absent from duty on the night of Monday when four people were killed in a Srinagar Highway car crash involving federal ombudswoman Kashmala Tariq’s son. ASI Shabbir and constable Ahmed were initially served a show-cause notice to explain their alleged absence from duty at the G-11 traffic signal where the accident occurred. They were, subsequently, found guilty and fined Rs10,000 and Rs5,000, respectively.
Four people were killed while four others injured after a vehicle allegedly driven by the son of federal ombudswoman Kashmala Tariq crashed into another vehicle on Srinagar Highway on Monday night. According to an FIR lodged at PS Ramna, five men hailing from Mansehra were travelling in a Mehran which was hit by a Lexus at the G-11 traffic signal. A motorcyclist was also injured in the accident. The FIR said that the driver of the Lexus was son of Federal Ombudswoman for Protection of Women against Harassment Kashmala Tariq.
Investigators are making efforts to identify the man who was driving the Lexus, which hit a car on Srinagar Highway, killing four people on Monday night, sources told The Daily Mail. Police, however, released the driver of the vehicle as he was not nominated in the case. Officers of the Capital Cops told The Daily Mail that the injured car passenger, Mujeeb-ur-Rehman, had actually named Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women Kashmala Tariq’s son Azlan in the FIR.
Her son, however, obtained bail before arrest. He appeared in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Mohammad Sohail, who granted him bail before arrest against surety bond of Rs50,000 till Feb 16th. The police had arrested the vehicle’s driver after he confessed to having been on the wheels of the vehicle when the accident occurred.
Speaking at a press conference, Kashmala Tariq denied her son was driving the vehicle that hit the car. She said she and her husband were travelling in the vehicle driven by their driver that crashed into the Mehran car. She said her son was travelling in another vehicle driven by another driver and demanded that the footage of the Safe City Project be released to prove her son’s innocence. The investigators also examined the CCTV footages of the Safe City Project Islamabad cameras to identify the Lexus driver, but the footages were not clear.
Majority of the CCTVs do not have night vision cameras and even if they had their picture, the quality was not up to the mark, the police investigators said. They said they had examined footages of cameras installed at the toll plaza by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) but Lexus had an e-tag and it crossed the toll plaza with such a speed that cameras could not properly capture the footage of the man driving the vehicle. Speed limit on the highway is 80km per hour, they said, adding that examination of CCTV footage of the camera installed at G-11signal revealed that the Mehran car was moving at an average speed, whereas the Lexus was at a high speed.
The investigators also approached the Islamabad Traffic Police to ascertain the speed of the Lexus, they said. There was no speed camera installed on Srinagar Highway, however, the ITP would ascertain the speed of the vehicle through the available footages. The investigators will focus on circumstantial evidence, besides taking statements of the complainant and witnesses. They will also record statements of the riders of the Lexus, and the man nominated in the FIR, besides other persons riding on different vehicles of the family’s motorcade.
“It is a test case for the police, as the complainant has nominated a man, but another man claiming that he drove the vehicle,†Supreme Court Advocate Shaikh Ahsanuddin told The Daily Mail. The investigators should investigate the case on merit and properly to ascertain who was driving the vehicle no matter if the driver had confessed to having hit the car. It will set a trend, he said, adding that if the police relied on the driver’s confession, it will result into serious consequences.
