Grants investigators more time to recover weapons, cash, and other alleged case property
A judicial magistrate on Thursday granted police a further four-day physical remand of three suspects allegedly involved in the abduction and rape of two foreign women, accepting the investigating agency’s request to complete the recovery of weapons and other case property.
Judicial Magistrate Azhar Mahmood passed the order after Defence-C Police produced suspects Rizwan, Nawaz and Nasir before the court on the expiry of their previous five-day physical remand.
During the hearing, the court asked the prosecution what recoveries had been made from the suspects during the previous remand.
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The state prosecutor informed the court that weapons had been recovered from suspects Rizwan and Nasir. The investigating officer stated that the weapon allegedly used by suspect Nawaz had yet to be recovered.
The investigating officer further submitted that the police also had to recover cash, jewellery, and a wristwatch allegedly linked to the offence and sought additional custody of the suspects to complete the investigation.
After hearing the arguments, the court allowed the prosecution’s request and handed the three suspects over to police on a further four-day physical remand.
The suspects are facing charges in a case registered over the alleged abduction and rape of two foreign women.
The case
The case was registered at Defence-C Police Station after two foreign women alleged that they had been abducted and sexually assaulted.
The victim said that the women travelled to Pakistan after being invited by an acquaintance they had met in Singapore in October 2025. She added that on June 29, they were abducted by an acquaintance and four accomplices, who demanded money for their release. The complaint further contained allegations of repeated sexual assault, threats with weapons, physical abuse, and extortion.
A statement from the Lahore police said an emergency call was received through the Punjab Emergency Helpline after the father of one of the women, who was in the Netherlands, reported the alleged kidnapping.
Following directions from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Lahore police launched an operation, using Safe City surveillance to trace the suspects. The statement added that the two women were recovered within approximately two hours, while four suspects were arrested. Police said raids were continuing to apprehend the remaining suspects.
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Lahore Deputy Inspector General of Police (Operations) Faisal Kamran said that at around midnight on July 1, the Safe City Authority received information from a man identified as Carlos, who reported that his daughter had been abducted in Pakistan and that he had received a ransom demand.
Kamran said investigators traced the family tree of a suspect and carried out raids at various locations. “During one such raid, residents of a house informed police that the suspect’s family had previously lived there as tenants and was believed to have links with the deputy prime minister. The suspect was later identified as Mohammad Raza Dar,” he added.
He said police verified the information with the suspect’s family, obtained his phone number, and began tracing his location. “The family would certainly have asked the suspect to surrender,” he said.
He added that investigators were also examining the possibility that a gang, rather than a single individual, was involved in the incident.
According to the DIG, the suspect was driving the two women to the airport when an altercation broke out inside the vehicle near Bhatta Chowk.
“During the scuffle, the vehicle collided with an object, after which the women jumped out and sought refuge at a nearby filtration plant, from where police recovered them safely,” he added.
The DIG said police contacted the embassies of Spain and the Netherlands after recovering the women. The Spanish embassy informed investigators that one of the women was a Venezuelan national.
Following consultations with the embassies, the women agreed to undergo medical examinations and later consented to recording their statements before a magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Kamran said the embassies had also requested that the women be repatriated at the earliest, adding that police were continuing to investigate all aspects of the case.
