–Islamabad Police later release Silvades Paul and Dawamu Brahamu due to diplomatic immunity
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police on Monday arrested two staff members of the Indian High Commission (IHC) over their alleged involvement in a hit-and-run incident.
A vehicle, reportedly a BMW, hit a pedestrian walking on the embassy road at around 8am. The two staffers, identified as Silvades Paul and Dawamu Brahamu, tried to flee after the incident but were caught by bystanders and handed over to local police. The critically injured pedestrian was shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Eyewitnesses said the car was being driven irresponsibly and had gotten out of control due to speeding.
Local police later informed the Foreign Office (FO) about the incident. However, on Monday evening the two staffers were released because they had diplomatic immunity.
Indian English daily, the Times of India featured a report earlier in the day, stating that two officials of the Indian High Commission ‘had gone missing’ in Islamabad.
“The officials were out for an official work before they went missing. The Indian government has taken up the matter with Pakistani authorities,” said the report.
Last month, India declared two officials of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi “persona non grata requiring them to leave India within 24 hours” alleging that they had been found guilty of espionage.
Pakistan had condemned the Indian government’s decision to expel the staff members as part of a “persistent anti-Pakistan propaganda”.
Islamabad had said that the two staff members of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi were “lifted by the Indian authorities today (31 May 2020) on false and unsubstantiated charges”. They were subsequently released after the Pakistan High Commission intervened.
“We condemn the detention and torture as well as threatening and pressuring of the diplomatic officials to accept false charges,” the Foreign Office had said.
Earlier this year, an SUV belonging to the US Embassy drove into a car on a main artery of the federal capital, killing a woman and injuring five members of her family.
The police arrested the Pakistani driver of the US Embassy, named Amjad Zaman, and registered a case against him at Margalla police station.
Accidents involving vehicles belonging to diplomatic missions, especially the US Embassy, have been frequent in recent years and in most cases the drivers got away unpunished by invoking diplomatic immunity.
In April 2018, a motorcyclist was killed after being hit by a vehicle driven by the military attaché at the US Embassy in Islamabad.
In Feb 2013, an SUV driven by an administrative assistant at the US Embassy hit two motorcyclists near Kohsar Complex on Margalla Avenue, killing one of them and injuring the other.
In July 2010, an officer attached to the US Embassy’s Force Protection Department hit and killed a young man riding a motorcycle on 7th Avenue.
In 2011, a CIA contractor, Raymond Davis, caused countrywide outrage after he killed two persons when he ran over a motorcycle in Lahore. The deadly incident had strained ties between Washington and Islamabad. Davis went scot-free after paying blood money to the families of the victims.
