Mystery buried amid police, ASF blame game

LAHORE The 22-year-old boy, who fell from an aircraft and crashed onto the rooftop of a single storey residential apartment in Al-Faisal Town near Allama Iqbal International Airport on Thursday night, was buried here in Miani Sahib Graveyard on Sunday. Following autopsy of the boy, still unidentified, City police registered a murder case under section 302 of the PPC. In the autopsy report, the doctors established that the boy died after falling from a considerable (above 250-feet) height as he was found with his arms and legs broken and with visible damage to his head. The entire body structure of the boy was damaged and his remains were found on the rooftop of one Haji Muhammad Afzal, an employee of the PTCL and resident of Al-Faisal Town. More than a dozen residents of Al-Faisal Town got their statements recorded in the police FIR stating that the boy fell to his death after plunging from an aircraft. The police after his autopsy took the dead body to Miani Sahib Graveyard, performed his last rites, and buried him there in the Aihata Lawwarsan (a special area for the burial of unidentified bodies). Instead of launching a joint inquiry to probe into incident, a quite unique in its nature and thought to be the first in the Civil Aviation history of Pakistan, the police, Airport Security Force (ASF) and Civil Aviation indulged in blame game. Ironically, the ASF spokesman, without any internal inquiry, showed height of negligence by issuing a statement that the police killed the boy and threw his body on the rooftop of a house near airport to conceal the facts and the airport management has nothing to do with the incident. He also blamed the police for entire what he said 'drama staged to change the nature of the incident. Neither the ASF, nor the Civil Aviation carried out any internal inquiry to probe into the happening. The management also blocked the police entry into the airport premises and reacted harshly instead of assisting the investigations. On Sunday, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Aslam Tareen told reporters that the police had completed all the legal formalities to investigate airport staff and management in this regard. Some low ranking officials of the ASF and Civil Aviation visited the crime scene and categorically denied that the boy was traveling covertly in the landing gear of the Airblue Dubai-bound flight. Even without investigations and inquiry. Civil Aviation sources disclosed to the media that the pilot of an Airblue flight contacted the control tower soon after taking off from the Lahore Airport and left a message that there was a problem erupting in the landing gear. Few minutes later, the Control Tower received another message from the pilot that the problem is over now. Now, the police investigators were working to find out the record of the control tower to establish whether the boy was a daily wager or mechanic at the airport, who managed to enter into the landing gear of the aircraft to reach Dubai. It is important to mention here that there were no high-rise buildings in the surrounding so it is out of question that he fell down from the rooftop of some other building. Dozens of locals in Al-Faisal Town came out of their residences soon after they heard a huge explosion that took place exactly at 09:22 pm on Thursday night. Sources in Civil Aviation said that an Airblue flight took off for Dubai from the Lahore Airport at about 9:18 pm. The plane was at low altitude (about 250-feet high) when the incident took place, eyewitnesses said. According to the statements of the local residents, Soon after an airplane flew over the area there was an explosion. Initially, we all failed to determine the cause of explosion but later after a thorough search, the boy was found on the rooftop with his arms and legs broken and with visible damage to his head. There were visible marks of grease and lubricant on the hands, legs and clothes of the deceased. The unusual incident have also become talk of the town besides putting a big question mark on the security of flights at a time when the country is facing worst over terrorism. In fact, it was a rare and quite unusual happening here in the town but will the investigators and responsible state organs take it seriously to reach the conclusion or the case has been buried along with the dead.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt