The real story behind the brutal killing of Merchant

The police’s version of the ambush couldn’t be further from the truth

KARACHI:

Abbas Ali Merchant was a big name in the cattle business. Well respected among the business community, Merchant was a whole-sale supplier of cattle feed and medicines for the last 30 years.

Unfortunately, the life of the self-made entrepreneur was brought to a tragic end on Saturday. He was shot dead at a cattle farm located in the city’s biggest cattle market, known as Bhains Colony. The police initially claimed that Merchant lost his life in an armed clash with a rival group.

When The Express Tribune investigated the incident, however, the police’s claims were laid bare. An eye-witness termed it a ‘pre-planned’ attack. According to him, Chaudhry Shabbir had called Merchant to the farm to settle a long-standing dispute. Soon after Merchant arrived at the farm, accompanied by four of his personal guards, Shabbir’s men attacked them. “They opened fire at Merchant’s guards, killing one of them on the spot and then turned their weapons on Merchant,” said another witness. “Merchant’s vehicles, which had been parked outside the farm’s gate, were brought inside with the help of the police to present the incident as an attack by Merchant.” Merchant’s second security guard succumbed to his injuries at the hospital on Sunday.



According to a source privy to the matter, Shabbir and Merchant had been involved in a monetary dispute for some time. “The issue had been going on for the last eight months,” said a close aide of Merchant. “Abbas Merchant had invested nearly Rs80 million in a business venture of Shabbir and a former DIG,” he recalled. “Some time later, they told Merchant that the business had gone into a complete loss.”

After the loss, the DIG handed over his cattle farm, worth around Rs50 million to Merchant to compensate the funds. “Everything was fine for some time until Merchant left the country for a trip abroad,” said the source. “When he came back, Shabbir and the former DIG’s men had occupied the farm.”

Read: Businessman ambushed and killed by rival

Once again, the matter was resolved through negotiations and the farm was handed over to Merchant. Soon after, however, Shabbir and the former DIG started implicating Merchant in fake cases and blackmailing him. “Recently, the former DIG and Shabbir once again approached Merchant and assured him of withdrawing all the cases after one of his men was killed in police custody,” the source narrated. “On Saturday, Shabbir had called Merchant to the farm to hand it over to him, but it was in fact an ambush that cost him his life.”

Meanwhile, Merchant’s family accuses the police of siding with the killers. “My father has been killed and the police, instead of arresting the assailants, have registered a case against him and his men,” Merchant’s daughter, Hinozia, told The Express Tribune. “We cannot even visit the police for fear of being arrested.” The victim’s daughter said they will approach the court to register a case against the perpetrators.

For his part, Shabbir claimed that he was attacked by Merchant and his men but luckily survived. “If I am lying, how come my cousin lost his life too?” he questioned. “I would have been killed too if my men had not reacted in time.”

Police officials said they have registered a case against Merchant and his men on the complaint of Chaudhry Shabbir. “People from both parties were killed and both have the right to register a case,” said SHO Sarfaraz Gondal. “We have not accepted so far the statement of Chaudhry Shabbir and will also register a counter-FIR on the complaint of Merchant’s family and then investigate the case properly.”  The former DIG, who was also accused of being involved in the fraud and threatening Merchant, was unavailable for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2015.