 LAHORE: Senior police and provincial administrative officers were probably involved in the theft of the 'holy slippers', believed to have belonged to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), according to a report of a joint investigation team (JIT) forwarded to the higher authorities a week ago. The Punjab government has recently announced a reward of two million rupees for information leading to the recovery of the holy slippers, which were stolen from the Badshahi mosque's archives gallery on July 31, 2002.
| "They're just now getting around to it? Those're holy relics, man! No wonder the infidels have been doing so well! Whoever's got them can make powerful ju-ju!" |
Security sources said that the JIT, consisting of senior investigators of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), city police and Intelligence Bureau (IB), had investigated the case with help from Javed Awan, former Punjab auqaf secretary. They said the bungling of the initial police investigation made the JIT investigators to conclude that senior police and administrative officers were involved in the theft.
| "Ahah! An inside job! Chief! Line up your men! I want to examine their shoes!" |
They said that another investigation team of the Chief Minister's Inspection Team (CMIT), headed by Khawaja Tariq, also inquired into the matter and forwarded a report to the chief minister two weeks ago. The sources claimed that the CMIT and JIT investigations had not found any clues to the whereabouts of the holy relics because city police had bungled the initial investigation at the time of the incident. They said that the city police's investigation team reached the mosque late on July 31, 2002. The police found the glass rack containing the relics shattered in places and cut with a diamond-tipped pen.
| "Hmmm... Professionals, huh? Mahmoud, round up all the professional curly-toed slipper thieves in the city!" |
| "Inspector, why'd they shatter the glass rack into pieces if they had a diamond-tipped pen?" |
The city police found an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Punjab police, who regularly visited the gallery, and a family of four, including an old man and three women who were wearing burqas at the scene of the crime. The fingerprints taken from the glass were damaged. Sources said that the five people informed the gallery caretakers about the theft. Police took them into custody but released them an hour later. They recorded their statements but, apart from the ASI, did not take down their addresses, they said. |