Police state slain journalist Haroon Khan not killed by TTP

Family members confessed the crime was a result of long-standing property dispute

PESHAWAR: Terror was spread earlier this month when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the murder of journalist Haroon Khan. The Swabi police investigations however, later revealed that the murder was allegedly a result of longstanding property dispute.

“All evidence and confessions of the arrested show that there were no marks of terrorism in the incident,” DPO Shoaib Ashraf told The Express Tribune, explaining that the modus operandi of target killers affiliated with larger terror outfits is quite different from this particular case. “The weapon we have recovered is an AK-47, target killers only use 9mm pistols,” he added.

Haroon Khan was shot eight times all over while a target fire of maximum three shots in the head and the chest. “Terror outfits usually function in daylight, the timing suits them while they hardly ever target anyone in a blocked alley,” he explained. “Terrorists make it necessary to have an escape route which suggests maximum impact in the least possible time.”



Haroon Khan’s murder gained condemnation from journalist’s protection bodies internationally. Unidentified armed men shot dead the journalist in Swabi district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

On Tuesday, Swabi police was on the tip off arresting Jawad Khan, a student of Hazara University, son of the slain journalist’s step-brother. “He confessed during the investigation that he and his brother were involved in the killing,” the police have confirmed.

“I was riding with Fawad on a bike and started firing our uncle Haroon Khan who we had a land dispute with, and killed him on the spot,” Jawad Khan was quoted as saying in a statement by the police.

Police have also conducted several raids in an attempt to find Muhammad Ali, step-brother of the slain journalist.



“Muhammad Ali is on run, and has escaped several attempts,” DSP Izhar Shah of Swabi police said. “Responsibility claims made by terror outfits are not usually correct,” a senior police officer looking over the case said. “We were closely monitoring every moment of the accused, and it was possible to trace the killers through electronic records and phone data,” he said.

“We saw a similar responsibility claim by a proscribed organisation in the case of MNA Suran Singh as well, but the truth turned out to be very different,” he concluded.