Murder mystery solved: Three ‘hired assassins’ of two Afghans arrested

Ali Raza and Haboot Khan were killed over personal enmity.

ISLAMABAD:

City police on Sunday arrested three suspects for the murder of two Afghan nationals. This brings the total number of suspects in the murder case to four.

The bullet-riddled bodies of Ali Raza (22) and Haboot Khan (23)  were discovered near Jeddah town outside the gate of DHA Phase II on Friday. They were killed on Thursday night, police said.

Police said Ali was a Peshawar-based journalist and his duty card was also recovered from the suspects.  “The killers could not find the cellphone as it was concealed in Haboot’s shalwar (trouser) pocket,” a police official said.

It was through this cellphone that police traced Habibullah, the prime suspect. Police said they believed that Habibullah had hired paid assassins to kill the two men.  He led to the arrest of Qammar Abbass and Muhammad Ali from Rawalpindi. Asher Maseeh was the last of the suspects to be picked up by the police on Sunday from a hideout in Rawalpindi.

A girl was also arrested on suspicions of her role in the murder. However, she was later booked on charges of prostitution and immoral activities after the police failed to determine her role in the murder.

The police also recovered the car and the three pistols used for the murders.

“Their families back in Afghanistan have been informed about their death and are on their way to Islamabad,” a police official said.

Police said Habibullah who was also from Kabul had a dispute with the two boys over some petty issue back in their village in Kabul some six months ago. The issue was resolved with the help of a jirga of local elders.

While his family had forgiven the two friends, Habibullah kept a secret grudge against them. He came to Pakistan in pursuit of Ali and Haboot, who had been living in Peshawar after the incident, some four months back.

Police said the hitmen wanted Rs500,000 for the murder, but Habib promised them Rs300,000. Another Rs200,000 were to be paid by Ali and Haboot to the hitmen themselves, as ‘fee’ for going abroad.

Ali and Haboot arrived in Islamabad on March 23 and stayed in Crown City Hotel on Murree Road, according to police.

There they were provided with “call girls” to keep them “happy”. In the meanwhile, the assassins and Habib tried to settle on the murder money.

However, after spending two days at the hotel, the two brothers started insisting on being sent abroad quickly. Fearing that he would lose them, Habib agreed to the hitmen’s demand.

Police said the hitmen hired a car and told the boys they were being sent to Lahore from where they will proceed to Karachi. In the car, they asked Ali Raza to give them the ‘travel fee’. When he refused, they shot him dead. Haboot quickly handed over the money but he too was shot dead and thrown outside the DHA gate.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28^th, 2011.