'State to pursue Nazim Jokhio murder case if family reaches compromise with PPP MPA'

Journalist's body was found a day after he filmed a group of foreigners hunting endangered houbara bustard in Thatta

ISLAMABAD:

In a major development, the federal government on Monday said that it would fight the case of journalist Nazim Jokhio if the family agreed to a "compromise" with suspect PPP MPA Jam Awais.

On November 3 last year, Nazim's tortured body was found in Awais' farmhouse in Karachi's Malir area a day after he filmed a group of foreigners hunting endangered houbara bustard in his Achar Salaar village in Thatta.

According to Afzal Jokhio, brother of the deceased, Nazim made a video of a road, that was blocked by foreigners who had come for hunting of houbara bustards. "Nazim got into a verbal spat with the man in the car who snatched his cellphone. Nazim then made another video that went viral on social media.”

He alleged that Sindh Assembly member Jam Awais and his personal secretary were involved in the murder of his brother. Subsequently, several people, including Awais, were named in the FIR.

Read more: Sheikh visits slain Jokhio’s family

On Monday, the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights summoned IG Sindh and expressed its displeasure over his alleged disinterest in the case.

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said that when MPA or MNAs are involved in a case then IG Sindh should appear, adding that Sindh police appeared to be failing in the case.

Mazari said that the federal government had directed the Sindh police to protect the family of Nazim, adding that the state will fight the case on behalf of Nazim's family if they agreed to a "compromise".

"If Nazim Jokhio's family compromises, the state will take up the case and fight it... The case of Qandil Baloch is before us all," she added.

Read more: PPP MPA sent on three-day remand in Nazim Jokhio murder case

PTI Senator Saifullah Abro told the committee that PPP MPA Jam Awais and MNA Jam Abdul Karim had invited guests from a Gulf country. "Only birds are not hunted in Sindh," he taunted.

He demanded that the activities of Arab princes should be brought before the committee for discussion. "One feels ashamed by the activities of them [Arab royals]... where they are invited as guests, they commit shameful acts," he told the committee.

Abro said that hundreds of such killings take place in Sindh, adding that the FIR was only registered when the victim's family staged a sit-in along the National Highway with Nazim's body.

Moreover, while expressing concern over the poor condition of the inmates, the committee decided to visit Adiala and Bhakkar prisons.