Aug 28, 2013
GUJRAT, Aug 27: Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested seven members of an extortionist gang involved in the murder of a senior doctor and hurling life threats to another.
Dr Ataur Rehman was gunned down at his clinic on August 6. Since then the local medical fraternity had been protesting the killing.
District Police Officer Ali Nasir Rizvi told reporters at a news conference at the Police Lines that he had constituted 17 teams to trace the blind murder and these teams had raided at least 67 locations in various areas of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sialkot, Narowal and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
He said the arrested accused, Amanullah of Kulachor, Riaz Ahmed of Changanwali and Pervez Jutt of Jalalpur Jattan confessed the murder of Dr Ataur Rehman as he had refused to pay extortion money to the outlaws. The weapons used in the incident had also been recovered from them, the DPO added.
He said the accused had a criminal record and were wanted in different cases of heinous crimes. The outlaws had been involved in extortion in Jalalpur Jattan since long, he added.
He added that three more members of the gang were yet to be arrested in connection with the case and the police were making hectic efforts to arrest them.
The DPO said four other accused -- Sabir, Qaisar Machi, Khursheed and Altaf Jutt -- demanding Rs1.5 million from Dr Saqib Mirza of Jalalpur Jattan had also been arrested. The outlaws had also confessed to their involvement in various other incidents of extortion, he added.
The DPO announced a cash prize of Rs50,000 and commendation certificates for each member of the police team involved in busting the gang.
The local chapters of Pakistan Medical Association and other medical organisations had been protesting against the incidents of extortion and the killing of Dr Ataur Rehman. The PMA had set Aug 30 deadline for arresting the culprits.
(Daily Dawn)
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