Cops to revise FIR of journalist’s murder
PHOTO: FILE
The police has given assurances that in the murder case of Sindh Express reporter Noor Lanjwani, new names, and sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act, will be inserted in the FIR.
Addressing the media after offering condolences to the family, Jacobabad SSP Muhammad Tariq Nawaz said he had requested Noor’s father, Wazir Ahmed Lanjwani, to visit his office on Monday (today) to revise the FIR.
“I myself am shocked at the journalist’s murder,” said Nawaz. The slain reporter was gunned down near Bahu Khoso in Jacobabad on Thursday, when he was returning to his village after attending a court hearing. The incident is suspected to be the result of a community dispute.
The SSP claimed that the police team formed to find Noor’s killers had been conducting raids at the suspects’ known hideouts on a daily basis. “Three close associates of the accused persons have been arrested. And we hope that the main accused will soon be in police custody,” he added.
Local journalists had given the district police a two-day ultimatum for arresting the accused but the deadline has passed.
Today, media workers will decide whether to up the ante of their protest in order to put pressure on the police to take the case more seriously.
Noor’s father has claimed that a local influential person, Wadero Abdul Hafeez Bijarani, should be nominated in the FIR.
According to Wazir, a jirga headed by Bijarani had slapped a Rs2 million penalty on the Lanjwanis who had allegedly killed a person from the Bahalkani community during a theft. He said the complete penalty amount was handed over to Bijarani, who did not pay the amount to Bahalkanis, making them feel that the Lanjwanis had not complied with the jirga’s order.
He added that his son was not involved in the dispute between the two communities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2020.