PHOTO: AFP
The accused man, Kashif Khan Kamran, who was reportedly picked up by intelligence agencies in 2010 when he came to Karachi from Sri Lanka, was nominated by the police for the drive-by shooting of Dr Chaudhry. Three accomplices and one unidentified man were also nominated.
Dr Chaudhry was gunned down on March 25, 2005, when he was going home. Two unidentified men on separate motorcycles intercepted his car in front of Parda Park near Jail Chowrangi on New MA Jinnah Road, an area that comes within the jurisdiction of Jamshed Quarters police. They opened fire at him at point blank range and fled. The case was apparently put on the back burner even though the Supreme Court had taken suo motu notice in 2007.
The missing link
The policemen looking into the case believed their investigations were completed until the arrest of Kamran's close aide, Mohsin Ali Syed, who is also a suspect in Dr Farooq's murder, provided the missing link. Syed is in police custody and undergoing trial while Kamran is apparently still on the run. However, some officials speculated that he may have been picked up by the intelligence agencies and has died in their custody.
Former student gone rogue
Dawood College records have revealed that the main suspect, Kamran, was actually a student of the electronic engineering department at the time when Dr Chaudhry was gunned down. He had had several heated arguments with the principal due to disciplinary actions taken by the principal.
Kamran's college records show that he was a resident of Korangi. According to college officials and the police, he was an active member of the All Pakistan Muttahida Students Organisation (APMSO).
Status of investigations
According to an investigation report prepared in 2005 by former Anti-Violence Crime Cell SP Farooq Awan, several college employees and students were questioned to get some clues about the whereabouts of the suspects involved in the murder case. The police also have the sketches of the accused drawn with the help of the complainant.
The report stated that Dr Chaudhry was approached by a former Dawood College student, Amirul Ebad, the brother of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan. During a meeting at Usmania Restaurant, Amir asked the principal to give undue favours to a college employee. Dr Chaudhry refused to do so even though he was offered the post of vice-chancellor for NED University in exchange, it added.
Following this meeting, on March 25, 2005, four students of APMSO - Kamran, Waqas, Shiraz and an unknown one - exchanged hot words with the deceased principal. Since Dr Chaudhry refused to accept their terms and insisted on maintaining discipline in college, he was shot dead the same day, stated the police report, adding that these students have been on the run since then.
A source, who was close to the slain principal, said that Dr Chaudhry's colleagues and some eyewitnesses recognised Kamran and others as the assassins when their pictures appeared on television in Dr Imran Farooq's case. "Kamran, Syed and others were believed to be behind the murder of Dr Chaudhry," he said.
Man of honour
Following his death, Dr Chaudhry has been awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz in March 2006 for "being martyred in the service of the nation". According to the press release issued by the Federal Education Ministry, massive political interference and corrupt practices by successive college administrations had created an unhealthy environment at the college. Dr Chaudhry was given the task to stem the rot as he had the qualities to put the college back on rails since he was a determined and fearless man, it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2016.
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