Youth arrested for ‘killing taxi driver’

Deranged suspect strangles Arif to death, dumps his body in canal

LODHRAN:

A taxi driver was allegedly strangled to death by a youth in the city on Saturday.

Reportedly the youth murdered the driver and dumped his body in a canal.

Police arrested the alleged murderer after the body was recovered from the canal.

According to the police report, Mohammad Riaz, a labourer from Dhanut area on the outskirts of Lodhran, complained to police that his paternal uncle Mohammad Arif, had rented the car of Mujahid Hussain.

Arif reportedly rented the car and worked as a taxi driver.

On the day of the incident, the victim was about to leave in the car when he told the complainant, his nephew, that he was going to take Tariq Atira's wedding procession from Mangwani and left.

When the victim did not return till morning, the complainant called him but his mobile phone was switched off.

The complainant said his uncle had been abducted by unknown individuals along with his car.

Dhanut police station registered a case against unknown persons and started searching for the suspects.

Police arrested Tariq from Mangwani and interrogated him.

Tariq later identified the body as slain Arif in the canal.

District Police Officer (DPO) Abdul Rauf Babar Qaisarani told The Express Tribune that the body found from Kahrori Minor canal, area of City Kahrorpakka Police Station, was identified as that of Mohammad Arif, who was driving a car on rent.

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“A case of abduction was also registered in Dhanut police station. An advertisement was also issued to help identify the victim’s body.”

The killer of Arif, the suspect Tariq, was in police custody and his vehicle had also been recovered. The accused Tariq strangled the victim Arif to death after he intoxicated him using drugs. The alleged murder later dumped the body in a canal, he stated.

The DPO remarked, “Such a brutal human being has no right to live in a free society. The accused will be severely punished as per the law.”

Incidents of murder over petty disputes were not uncommon in the province.

On June 12, a man beat his wife and daughter to death over a petty dispute in Tandlianwala, Faisalabad.

Reportedly, after not getting Rs500, the deranged man beat his wife and daughter to death with a stick.

Saleem, son of Wariam, a resident of Gulshan-e-Rehman Colony on the outskirts of Tandlianwala, demanded Rs500 from his wife, 42-year-old Farzana Bibi.

The suspect’s wife refused to give him the money.

In a fit of rage, Saleem started beating his wife with a stick he found lying in the house.

The suspect allegedly hit her on the head multiple times.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old daughter of the suspect, Umm-e-Kulsoom, came to save her mother. She managed to stop the physical assault but the suspect then started hitting her on the head with the stick.

As a result, the suspect’s daughter succumbed to her injuries on the spot while his wife was rushed to Civil Hospital in a critical condition. Farzana breathed her last in the hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6^th, 2021.