Police arrest more suspects in couple abuse case

ISLAMABAD: Scores of people have been picked up by police in connection with the investigation of the couple harassment case of Islamabad in which the main suspect, Usman Abrar, along with four other persons is already in custody.

The police have detained more than 20 relatives of other suspects who have gone into hiding.

These suspects were spoted in videos or photos recovered from the mobile phones and laptops of the five arrested men.

The police also rounded up a relative of a man who is suspected of making the video of Abrar and others while they held the couple at gunpoint, forced them to strip and beat them up.

The relatives of the suspect said that the capital police raided a house in Shamsabad Rawalpindi three days ago. As the suspect was not present there, the police took away one of his relatives.

He has been in police custody for three days without any legal proceedings, they said.

They added the suspect obtained bail before arrest from court and approached the police along with his family to join the investigation ater which his relative was set free.

The police said the investigation in the case was in the initial stage as the investigators were still busy identifying and tracing the suspects.

Besides, they were also requesting the couple to submit writen statements and become complainants in the case. The mobile phones and laptops of the suspects were also being analysed to find out if the suspects were involved in organised crime.

The officers said the suspects in police custody were yet to be properly interrogated as so far their statements have not been recorded.

Meanwhile, the officers said the investigators were also trying to establish the identification of the close contacts of the main suspect, Abrar, with the help of his call and message records.

Moreover, the police have found that three cases were already registered against him — one at the Sihala police station and two in Rawalpindi.

On Friday, Islamabad police chief Qazi Jamilur Rehman met Prime Minister Imran Khan and briefed him on the progress made in the case concerning the sexual assault and harassment of the couple.