Police in Lahore have identified three suspects in the case pertaining to the alleged gang-rape of a 20-year-old Azerbaijani woman in Lahore, asking federal authorities to place them on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) as attempts are made to arrest them.
The woman, who had travelled to Pakistan for business, was allegedly assaulted by the three men at a rented flat in a private housing society near Raiwind on the night between Friday and Saturday.
Monday’s development came after a police official told media that investigators had taken two close relatives and a domestic worker of one of the prime suspects into custody while efforts to arrest the trio remained underway.
Police said that the suspects had fled Lahore after the alleged assault and investigators had traced one of them to Sialkot.
Meanwhile, Lahore Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Operations Faisal Kamran also confirmed that all three suspects had been identified and teams formed to trace and arrest them.
He said that the Crime Control Department (CCD), Operations and Investigation wings were jointly handling the case.
Police have also seized the vehicle allegedly used in the crime, DIG Kamran added.
While Cantt Division Superintendent of Police (SP) for Investigation Asim Iftikhar is leading the operation, it merits a mention that the incident is the second reported case of alleged gang rape of a foreign woman within the Defence C police station area in the past four months.
