Killers of professional swimmer still at large

Police unable to trace suspects even though a month has passed since incident

RAWALPINDI:

The culprits involved in the murder of professional swimmer Mushtaq, who was killed a month ago in Dhoke Faryal within the jurisdiction of Jatli police station, are yet to be arrested.

Police have failed to trace the suspects even after obtaining forensic laboratory reports and despite using modern geo-fencing technology.

On January 11, Mustafa, who was also an intelligence agency employee, came home on leave. Mustafa was sitting outside his house when unknown assailants shot and killed him.

Taking notice of the incident, the then City Police Officer (CPO) Sajid Kayani had set up a high level investigation committee headed by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Syed Ghazanfar Abbas, while a separate investigation was being carried out at the relevant police station as well.

A senior police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune Mustafa had represented Pakistan at the World Swimming Championships held in Abu Dhabi last year. “Mustafa's murder is under investigation; the police have so far failed to trace any of the accused,” he added.

He further said that the post-mortem report had revealed that Mustafa was shot in the neck from close range, which proved fatal. The accused took away Mustafa's mobile phone with them before fleeing the crime scene.

Attempts to locate the suspects through modern technology geo-fencing revealed that the suspects had blocked Mustafa's mobile number, said the official.

The probe committee had obtained data from Mustafa's mobile phone, containing details of his call log in the last few days. Based on the information, a number of persons who had been in contact with Mustafa on his mobile phone were questioned, but no significant revelations have surfaced.

“The suspects are a cunning lot,” acknowledged the police officer. “They turned off the deceased’s mobile phone immediately after killing him. If they had left it on, chances are that the culprits would have been caught.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2022.