Enmity behind journalist murder, says police

KHAIRPUR             -        Additional Inspector General (AIG) of Karachi police Ghulam Nabi Memon said on Friday that an investigation had revealed that Aziz Memon, a journalist, was murdered on the basis of enmity.

Aziz Memon, a journalist, associated with a local Sindhi channel and a newspaper, had been found murdered in Naushehro Feroze on February 16, while the postmortem examination report released by the authorities had stated that he had died of suffocation.

Addressing a press conference in Nawabshah, Karachi’s top cop said that the arrested suspect in the case had confessed to his crime before the court.

The AIG police said that the DNA of Nazir, the suspect, had matched with the crime scene and during investigation, the culprit had revealed names of the other suspects as well.

“So far three suspects have been arrested in the case, while five more are yet to be arrested,” said the AIG police.

Ghulam Nabi Memon said that he will not make any unconfirmed statement and the reason behind holding a press conference was to reveal the details of the investigation.

The AIG further told that Mushtaq Sheto was the mastermind of the murder, while five another accused who were still at large would be arrested very soon.

The Karachi police chief said that further investigation in the case was in progress, expressing gratitude to other institutions for assisting in the probe.

Earlier today, three suspects, including Nazir Saheto, were presented before a local court in Naushahro Feroze.

The other two suspects Amir and Farhan were handed over to police on one-day physical remand. The suspects were arrested on Thursday after their DNA matched with the evidence. On February 16, Memon’s body was recovered from a river with a cable wrapped around his neck.

The reporter, before his death, had pointed fingers at the PPP as well as at Naushehro Feroze police, accusing them of threatening him with dire consequences for unflattering reporting on party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s widely-publicized ‘train march’ last year.

Shortly after news of the journalist’s murder broke, journalists in Islamabad had protested against his killing and asked the chief justice to look into the matter.

Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry had noted in particular that the slain journalist had made allegations against the ruling party in Sindh prior to his death, and suggested that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should investigate the murder.

Provincial Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had condemned Memon’s death, saying authorities would soon catch his killers.

 

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