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Another 'N' MPA in the dock
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LAHORE - A PML-N MPA, Shumaila Anjum Rana, has been accused of stealing credit cards of a young lady from a Gulberg health club. It does not stop here, as a close circuit television (CCTV) footage installed at a jewellery shop also pictured her purchasing jewellery on the stolen cards.
Surprisingly, police hushed up the incident and did not register a case on the victim’s complaint four days after the incident. No police officer including the SHO, ASP, SP and SSP Operations attended their cell phones for comments despite repeated attempts. When contacted CCPO Lahore Pervez Rathore said he had no information regarding the incident as he was in Islamabad on leave.
It is learnt reliably that no case has yet been registered against the PML-N MPA till the filing of this report.
According to the police sources, Zaira Malik, sister of Gulberg trader Muqeet Islam, filed a complaint against Shumaila Rana alleging that on July 7 (Tuesday) she had been to ‘Sukh Chain’ health club Gulberg for exercise, where the MPA, Shumaila Anjum Rana, was also present. As a routine she went to a room to change her dress and came back for exercise, the complainant added.
Zaira further stated that some moments later Shumaila disappeared from the club. When she was about to leave the venue, she came to know about the two missing cards from her handbag.
Police sources say Zaira immediately informed the local banks about her missing cards. The bank administration told her that the two cards had been used some minutes before her call and suggested her to report the matter to the local police. Police started investigation after receiving the complaint, the sources informed.During the course of investigation, police came to know about the details of a credit card from the concerned bank officials. After obtaining necessary information, a police team reached a shop where the card was used.
The police later took into custody the footage of the CCTV installed in the shop, which showed a woman using the stolen card while purchasing some jewellery.
Zaira, meanwhile, recognised the woman from the videotape who was later on identified as Shumaila Anjum Rana, a PML-N MPA. She remained in the shop for an hour.
The footage shows Shumaila’s entry into the shop, dealing with the shopkeeper and purchasing jewellery items including a gold ring and a chain worth over Rs 80,000 on the stolen credit card.
The sources said, according to the recording, the MPA while entering into shop introduced her, “I am a PML-N parliamentarian and have come for shopping.” As a chair was presented to her, she expressed her desire to purchase jewellery and salesman Muhammad Iqbal to show some items.
Finally, Shumaila Rana purchased a gold ring and a chain of her choice and took out two credit cards of Bank Alfalah and United Bank Limited (UBL) from her handbag to pay for the purchased items.
According to the sources, the salesman told the investigators that he had given her extraordinary ‘respect and discount’ when she introduced her as a PML-N parliamentarian. He contacted the Bank Alfalah administration for the verification of the credit card but found no response, the salesman added.
Then he got verification of the other credit card of Alfalah Bank and after getting green signal deducted amount of Rs 80,000, Iqbal said.He had given her a special discount being a parliamentarian.
“I came to know about her involvement in the theft incident on Saturday when police investigators came to the shop and informed him about the ‘crime’ allegedly committed by a public representative,” he said adding that owing to police action, the bank had stopped transaction of money on the stolen credit card.
Iqbal warned that if his payment were not transferred to his account, he would also get a case registered against PML-N MPA Shumaila Rana for the fraud.
The Nation:Sunday,July 12, 2009
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