KU dean murder case: Investigation officer submits challan in ATC

The suspect was arrested for possession of explosives but later confessed to the murder as well

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court accepted on Tuesday the challan in the murder case of a Karachi University dean, Dr Shakil Auj, submitted by the investigation officer of the case a few days ago.

Dr Auj, dean of the Islamic Studies department at the varsity, was killed in September last year. The slain professor was going to attend an awards ceremony in his honour at the Iranian Cultural Centre along with his colleagues, Dr Tahir Masood and Dr Jamil Bandhani, former student Dr Amna Afreen and niece Usra when the incident took place.

When their vehicle reached the Nipa flyover, unknown assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at them. Dr Auj was shot twice, while Dr Afreen was shot in the leg once. The former was rushed to a nearby hospital but he succumbed to his injuries on the way.

The killing caused uproar in the academic fraternity and the city's largest public sector university remained closed for at least three days in mourning. For a long time, the police were unable to arrest the culprit, despite the government's announcement of a reward for information about the assailants. In January, however, police claimed to have arrested a key suspect in the murder case.

The suspect, Muhammad Mansoor, was arrested by the Ferozabad police for possession of explosives. He was, however, later implicated in Dr Auj's murder case as the investigation officer claimed he had confessed to the crime during interrogation. Aziz Bhatti DSP Nasir Lodhi was tasked to investigate the case, who submitted the challan in court six months after the murder.

The challan stated that the suspect had been identified by witnesses before a judicial magistrate of District East. It also said that a 9mm pistol allegedly used in the killing was recovered from a dumping yard near the site of the incident.

However, it remained silent on the motives behind the teacher's killing.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2015.