Police declare arrest of accused in double murder, rape case

Sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act are being inserted in FIR, 90% investigation complete, says SSP

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad police have belatedly declared the arrest of the culprit who killed minor brother and sister on July 8, describing eight-year-old R*'s rape as the motive behind the double murder. The killer, whose name was given in the dying declaration by slain 12-year-old Qadir Baksh Siyal, has also confessed to his crime, according to Hyderabad SSP Sarfaraz Nawaz Shaikh.

He informed a press conference on Saturday that the police have completed 90 per cent of the investigation. "The involvement of another suspect is yet to be determined and the recovery of the murder weapon is yet to be done." Despite repeated questions, the SSP did not own up to the arrest of Bengali a couple of hours after Baksh was found in critically injured condition from Airport Road on July 8.

Police sources claim that the Airport police had picked up Bengali a few hours after the boy was shifted to the hospital. The SSP also acknowledged that Baksh had given his dying declaration against Bengali before Airport Police Station SHO Malik Javed. Bengali, who is said to be a fridge mechanic, is a neighbour and acquaintance of the Siyal family.

According to the timeline of the crime shared by the SSP, Bengali took both children with him on his motorbike around 6.30pm on July 8 and took them to an abandoned 120-square-yard bungalow in Bismillah city area. The CCTV footage collected from the locality showed Bengali, Baksh and R* exiting the bungalow at 8:28pm.

The SSP said that the three headed to Nursery Park where Bengali dropped Baksh and returned to the same bungalow with R* at 8:59pm while the accused is seen leaving the place alone at 9:37pm. "In the interim, Bengali raped R*, stabbed her, and later throttled her to death."

R*'s dead body kept lying in that place for more than 48 hours until residents of the locality informed the police about the presence of a body in that bungalow. If police sources are to be believed about the arrest of Bengali on the night of July 8, it is unclear why the police failed to elicit information about the body from the accused.

Although the incident's FIR was lodged at GOR Police Station, the accused was reportedly picked by the Airport Police and CCTV footage and information about the girl's dead body was received by B-Section Police Station.

The SSP said that sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act are being inserted in the FIR and that the police will produce Bengali before an Anti-Terrorism Court for remand. It is also unclear if the police will book and produce the other suspect, Noohani who also in police detention, before the court.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14^th, 2019.