ISLAMABAD: Due to absence of video or photographic evidence, the capital police have resorted to sketches, drawn with the help of eye-witnesses, to identify the culprits of the attacks on the district courts in Islamabad.
Dawn has learnt that eight sketches were drawn of the attackers; four of each culprit. The assisting witnesses also include policemen who tackled the attackers on the premises of the courts.
Although the four sketches of each attacker were slightly different, more or less they presented a similar face, the police officials said.
The sketches are now being matched with the photos of terrorists and criminals available at police departments all over the country. Assistance is also being provided by the intelligence agencies.
Similarly, the terrorists and criminals, in custody of the police or detained in jails, will also be approached for their identification.
However, the capital police officials claimed that neither terrorists nor criminals have ever been identified using this mechanism.
Besides, sometimes the eye-witnesses fail to properly describe the features of the terrorists and criminals, leading to incorrect sketches, the officials added.
Earlier, the sketch of a suicide bomber who attacked near the Naval Complex in E-8 in December 2009 described him as a foreigner, but later he turned out to be from Gilgit.
His sketch was made with the help of a taxi driver, who also informed the police that the terrorist was speaking a language unfamiliar to him.
“The sketch was totally wrong as it was that of a boy who was later found alive in the southern part of KPK,” they said, adding that the police realised their mistake later.
Similarly, the sketch of the assassin of minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, drawn with the help of eye-witnesses, also did not match or resemble with those who were later identified as his killers, they added.
The police have hundreds of sketches of criminals, who robbed houses, banks and shops, they said, adding that “no one has ever been identified or arrested with help of these sketches.”