‘Siraj shot injured Shahzeb again after being egged on’

Karachi

Siraj Talpur, one of the two prime suspects in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, fired more shots after he seriously wounded the 20-year-old student – just to ensure his prey did not survive, a court was told on Wednesday.

During an identification parade in the court of Judicial Magistrate (South) Waqar Ahmed Soomro, two witnesses identified Talpur, his brother, Sajjad Talpur, and their cook, Ghulam Murtaza Lashari, as three of the four men involved in the gruesome murder.

Another prime suspect, Shahrukh Jatoi, fled the country on a passport with a fake name on December 27, two days after the life of Khan, son of DSP Aurangzeb Khan, was cut down in his prime near Mubarak Masjid in Phase V of the Defence Housing Authority.

Jatoi’s father, Sikandar Jatoi, was named in the FIR registered with the Darakhshan police as a facilitator. He had been in hiding until Wednesday morning, when he managed to get protective bail from a court.

The two brothers and their cook were arrested last week only after the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the incident, which sparked protests by civil society and rights activists, who demanded that the culprits be brought to justice. An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday remanded the three in police custody for 10 days.

In their statements, the witnesses said Siraj had allegedly fired a shot at Khan’s car, seriously injuring him. They said the victim was still alive when Siraj fired several more bullets at the car after being egged on by his brother, their cook, and Jatoi.

A total of bullets hit the car. Dilip Khatri, a medico-legal officer of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, who conducted the postmortem, told The News that two of the bullets hit Khan in the chest, which caused his death.

The judicial magistrate, who conducted the identification parade and recorded statements of the witnesses, will submit a report to the ATC, where the trial is being held.

He asked the witnesses to record their statements freely and fairly, and assured them that the law would protect them. He also advised the media not to disclose their names.

Pakistan has approached Interpol for the arrest of the absconding accused, Shahrukh Jatoi, who is said to have escaped to the US from the UAE.

Police have come under fire for delaying action against the defendants, who belong to two influential families. They registered a case only after senior PPP leader Nabil Gabol, an uncle of the murder victim, intervened.

Posted in: Karachi News