LAHORE(National Times)- After the arrest of drug dealer Anmol alias Pinky by Sindh Police, her appearance in a Karachi court whose video went viral on mainstream as well as social media and her revelations during the investigation, Punjab police have also woken up to three old cases allegedly registered against her and her brothers in Lahore several years ago and are reportedly planning to seek custody of the woman from Sindh.
On the other hand, the arrest and investigation have put the Punjab Police under the scanner as it transpired that officers in the CIA (now the Crime Control Department) had taken bribes and avoided arresting Anmol, who was nominated in three cases.
The FIRs were registered with Liaqatabad Police Station in 2019, Iqbal Town Police Station in 2020 and Kot Lakhpat Police in 2022, nominating Anmol and her two brothers, Nasir and Riaz Baloch.
The 2022 FIR clearly stated that the police, during a raid on Jan 6, rounded up a black SUV at Shadab Colony, following the intelligence reports that it was smuggling a huge cache of drugs. It said a man (Riaz Baloch) left the car, which was being driven by a young woman. As the police overpowered him, the woman driver suddenly pressed the accelerator, tried to run them over and fled from the crime scene.
The police found drugs, including cocaine, charas, and heroin, from the man who identified the fleeing driver as his sister, Anmol alias Pinky.
Traces three cases against her registered in Lahore; investigating officers found complicit in not arresting woman drug dealer; an ex-officer got a double-cabin, house from her
Some officials believed the revelations made during the post-arrest investigations by Karachi police and two FIRs registered in Lahore were sufficient material to grill several officers of Lahore Police who allegedly stayed silent or negligently avoided arresting Anmol in the three cases mentioned above.
A senior police official said the woman and her brothers were running a network of dealers from Lahore to Karachi. He said some officials who were part of the former Crime Investigation Agency (CIA), presently known as CCD, had been in contact with Pinky to blackmail her for financial gains. A retired police official of the CIA had got a double-cabin truck and a house from the woman, he said, adding that there were some unconfirmed reports that the police had taken him into custody for questioning.
“The investigation police had already submitted challans of the two registered cases against two brothers of Anmol,” DIG investigation Zeeshan Raza said.
In a statement issued on Thursday, he said the woman’s arrest was still to be made in the three drug cases registered in Lahore.
“We are approaching the courts concerned to seek permission for the arrest of Anmol alias Pinky,” the DIG said and added that the Punjab Police would seek custody of the suspect from Sindh Police to interrogate her.
“The police teams have been formed to bring Anmol from Karachi to Lahore,” DIG Raza said.
To a question, the DIG said that departmental action had also been initiated against the investigating officers concerned for not arresting Anmol in the three cases.
There were unconfirmed reports that Anmol was taken into custody on information by Jordan Gang members in 2024. She was not declared a proclaimed offender in the challan while the investigation was completed despite her arrest being kept pending. Her brother, Riaz Baloch, also later got an acquittal due to the lapses left in the case by the Punjab police officers.
The then-CIA Lahore chief DIG Imran Kishwar has strongly denied the reports that Anmol was a part of the Jordan Gang, which was busted by his team in 2024.
Talking to Dawn, he said that the Jordan Gang had six members of a family, including ringleader Jordan, whose original name was Mohammad Ayub.
He made it clear that the gang was operating from Central Asia, Mexico, Canada, USA and some other countries and had nothing to do with the suspected lady Anmol.
Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has already reportedly sought a report on the matter in her case. Anmol’s case appears to be a test case for CM to securitise the role of the officers of Lahore investigation wing police following the reports that they allegedly avoided arrest of her being nominated in three drug cases registered against her with local police stations.
