MPA arrested in Kolai-Palas DEO murder case

PML-Q lawmaker was taken into custody from court premises

PESHAWAR: A provincial assembly lawmaker has been arrested and shifted to the Kohistan jail in the murder of Kolai Palas District Education Officer (DEO) Nawab Ali.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly member, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Mufti Obaidur Rehman was arrested from the court premises.

A Kohistan native elected from PK-27 Kolai-Palas, Rehman had filed a bail before arrest application in a local Abbottabad court a few days ago. When Rehman appeared before the court on Monday, his lawyer contended that the lawmaker was not involved in the murder of the DEO and that all charges levelled against him were baseless.

However, the police and the lawyer of the deceased DEO argued to the contrary.

The court subsequently rejected Rehman’s bail plea and ordered the police to arrest him.

Police subsequently apprehend the lawmaker from the court premises, officers told The Express Tribune.

Rehman was then shifted to the Kohistan jail on Tuesday, local police confirmed.

DEO Ali had been shot multiple time inside his office in Kohistan on October 12.

A former councillor and Ali’s cousin stated that the DEO was allegedly receiving death threats. However, he did not state at that time as to who was threatening the DEO.

Further, Ali’s death had initially been termed as a suicide, but later it emerged that it was a murder.

Several protests were organised across the district by students, teachers and civil society members against the murder and they demanded a transparent inquiry into the incident while calling for the arrest of culprits.

The protesters had alleged that Rehman was allegedly involved in the incident and that the district administration and the police were trying to brush the incident under the carpet.

After several days of protest, and a notice by the adviser to the chief minister on education, a first information report (FIR) for the DEO’s murder was registered against 11 suspects.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2019.