Paraded before media: Police disclose arrest of five for killing Kismat Baig

Say prime suspect Rana Muzammil hired four assassins to maim actor

LAHORE: Still gloating over the arrest of four people involved in the killing of five people at Millat Park, the Lahore police added another feather in their cap by solving the murder of stage actor Kismat Baig.

The arrest of the suspected killers of the actor was announced on Friday by Capital City Police Officer Amin Wains during a press conference at Qila Gujjar Singh police lines, where the four hitmen with their faces covered and the prime suspect, Rana Muzammil, were presented before media.

Wains said police had interrogated more than 50 people, mostly from the stage drama industry as in most such cases of murder the killers are colleagues of the victim.

Police then shortlisted Rana Muzammil after investigation and arrested him along with four hitmen identified as Habibul Rehman, Muhammad Rizwan, Abid Hussain and Muhammad Azam. The suspects confessed to their crime before the police, he added.

The CCPO said the prime suspect was a promoter of Kismat and had personal relations with her and bought her a house as well as a car but the two developed differences in recent weeks.

“Rana Muzammil wanted to handicap her so that she could no longer remain a part of the entertainment industry,” Wains said. “He hired four shooters, who worked on his fields, and ordered them just to shoot at her legs. However, she died as a result of the attack.”

They were said to be planning for the attack and conducting reconnaissance on the victim for 10 days.

Wains added the scope of investigations would be expanded and more suspects would be interrogated keeping all angles in mind.

Kismat was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near her house in Harbanspura about two weeks ago as she was returning home late at night after the rehearsal of a drama at a theatre on Mall Road with her driver.

Four suspects carrying rods had first attacked her car, before dragging her out and shooting at her legs. When leaving, the assailants had told her she would no longer be able to dance, implying that she was targeted over some personal enmity.

The victim was admitted to hospital but could not survive the gunshots and died due to excessive bleeding. She suffered eight bullet wounds. Police registered a case against unidentified suspects and started their investigation.

Police had been under immense pressure to arrest the killers of the actress for various reasons. The first being that it was a part of a series of incidents over the last two weeks including the Millat Park botched robbery, the targeted killing of a professor in Iqbal Town and a broad daylight robbery on the traffic signal of Faisal Town.

The second reason was that media was vigilantly reporting on the cases while another reason was the protests held by artistes, producers and others from the entertainment industry on Mall Road.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2016.