Murdered man’s son refutes Sindh Police claims

Father was killed over money dispute, not illicit relations, says son

KARACHI: Zafar Baloch, the son of slain Lal Bakhsh, denied the investigation police's claims on Saturday. Bakhsh's body was recovered from an underground water tanker in house in Manghophir this week after he had been abducted, with police claiming that he had been killed over alleged illicit relations with accused Rehana.

According to Baloch, his father had had a dispute over money Rehana's husband Sharif and three others nominated in the case. "Sharif, who was once our neighbour, had borrowed Rs50,000 from my father for Rehana's medical treatment last year and promised to return the money within 20 days [in October, 2019]," said Baloch, adding Sharif took the money and went to Lahore. Once there, he asked Bakhsh for more money, at which he lent Sharif an additional Rs12,000, maintained Baloch.

Baloch said his father had been unsuccessful in contacting Sharif again, but Rehana told him she and her husband would pay back the loan in November. After this, he claimed, they continued to avoid repayment and began threatening the deceased, at which point he filed a complaint seeking security and approval to register a case at both Tipu Sultan police station and the East SSP's office on December 14, 2019.

The deceased's son said that all five suspects were on the run and the police had failed to trace them. He appealed to the Karachi police chief to arrest his father's murderers immediately.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2020.