PESHAWAR: An additional district and sessions judge here on Wednesday sentenced a police investigation officer to 10 years in prison for negligence in the investigation of a murder case and for giving false testimony before the court.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Imtiaz Ali announced the verdict while hearing a murder case against an accused identified as Ali, who was charged with shooting
dead his mother in the jurisdiction of Pahari Pura Police Station on July 4, 2024.
In the judgement, Investigation Officer Hidayatullah was convicted under Sections 193 and 186 of the relevant law.According to the court order, the officer failed to send crucial digital evidence to a forensic laboratory and did not record the statements of eyewitnesses during the investigation.
The court noted that the investigation officer admitted he had neither taken possession of the DVR or hard disk from the bus stand near Haji Camp, where the incident occurred, nor recorded statements from the CCTV camera operator or any other person regarding the source of the video footage. He stated that no one was willing to give a statement due to fear of enmity.
According to the judgement, the court questioned the officer on several aspects of the investigation. When asked why he had not sent the video footage for forensic examination, he replied that he had failed to do so because of his workload.
The court rejected this explanation. During the proceedings, the murder suspect allegedly attempted to escape from the courtroom. However, the prosecution foiled the attempt and security personnel apprehended him.The court found the investigation officer guilty under Section 186(2) and ordered his transfer to Central Prison Peshawar to serve the sentence.
