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Saturday, April 13, 2024

Main suspect involved in motorway gang-rape case arrested: sources

Media reports claim that the prime suspect involved in the gang rape of a woman on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway near Gujjarpura area has been arrested.

The main suspect involved in the horrific gang-rape of a woman in front of her children on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway earlier this week was arrested on Saturday, sources familiar with the developments told GVS on condition of anonymity. Police are now looking for the accomplice of the main accused in the case, the sources added.

Sources claimed that the teams probing into this high-profile case were also investigating the local police officers. “There are some reports which suggest that the local police protect the criminals and take money in return,” the sources said. It was also learnt that another girl was raped by four men on the same road a few months ago.

“She was looted and raped on this road,” the sources said. The SHO of Gujjarpura does enjoy a good reputation, GVS learnt through reliable sources. On Friday night, ARY News had also reported that the prime suspect involved in the motorway gang-rape of a woman near Gujjarpura area had been arrested. The TV channel claimed that “reliable sources” on the behalf of the Punjab government had informed the channel of the arrest of the chief suspect in the case that has shocked the entire nation.

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Citing Punjab government sources, the channel maintained that the search for the second suspect involved in the gang rape of a woman was underway. However, Dr. Shahbaz Gill, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Political Communication, rejected the news early on Saturday and maintained that no such development took place.

However, Ammad Yousaf, Senior Executive Vice President ARY, responded to Gill and said that the channel will stand by its story. GVS spoke to some sources in Lahore to ascertain the authenticity of the claim. The police is reluctant to share any information due to several reasons, the source said. “We suspect the involvement of some local officials in this case,” a senior police official told GVS.

The horrific gang rape of the woman, in front of her children, occurred on Tuesday night on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. Punjab police conducted a search operation in Karol village situated near the Gujjarpura area of Lahore on Friday night for the arrest of suspects who gang-raped and looted the woman.

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Police takeover Lahore-Sialkot motorway

Notably, following the motorway gang-rape and robbery incident near Gujjarpura, the Punjab police have decided to beef up security on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. As per details, a Central Police Office (CPO) video-link conference was held in Lahore to discuss matters related to security on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway.

The meeting was attended by Punjab Inspector General of Police (IG) Inam Ghan, IG Motorway Police and Federal Secretary Communication. During the meeting, it was decided that personnel of SPU and PHP would patrol the Lahore-Sialkot motorway, while 100 police officials will be deployed at motorway for security purpose.

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Inspector General of Punjab (IG) Inam Ghani has directed the joint teams of Special Protection Unit (SPU) and Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) to beef up the security in the area.