Olympian swimmer’s killer arrested after three months

Police say Mustafa Ali’s murderer turned out to be his real uncle

RAWALPINDI:

Police arrested the killer of Olympian swimmer Mustafa Ali who was killed three months ago in Dhoke Farya within the jurisdiction of Jalti police station.

According to a police spokesman, Jatli police using the latest technology and human intelligence successfully arrested the real uncle of Mustafa named Khalid Mehmood involved in the gruesome murder. The swimmer's uncle killed Mustafa Ali and dumped his body outside the house.

The body was dumped outside the house after killing, police said. Jatli police registered a case on the complaint of the victim's brother.

SP Potohar said that the accused would be challaned with solid evidence and he could not escape the grip of law, he added.

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.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2022.