ISI official excluded from Arshad’s murder probe

Only FIA, IB officers will leave for Kenya for investigation

ISLAMABAD:

The interior ministry on Wednesday removed a representative of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) from the list of officials, who would be part of a team formed to ascertain the facts in the killing of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya.

In a revised notification, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, the ministry removed the ISI official's name from the body. However, it provided no explanation as to why the ISI officer was taken off the team.

The new notification was issued hours after the ministry had named three officials for the high-profile team – Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Athar Waheed, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Deputy Director General Omar Shahid Hamid and ISI's Lt Col Saad Ahmed.

According to the notification, the two-member team, comprising the FIA and IB officials would leave for Kenya immediately. It added that the foreign ministry and the Pakistan’s High Commission in Nairobi would facilitate the team during the visit.

The notification also said that the team would present its report to the Interior Division.

Earlier in the day, the body of the slain journalist arrived at the Islamabad airport from Doha. “My Arshad is back, but in [a] coffin,” his wife Javeria Siddique wrote on Twitter. His body was taken to a mortuary of a private hospital near Golra Mor under strict security.

Arshad’s wife approached Ramna police station, which submitted her application to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital for an autopsy. An official at PIMS Hospital said Arshad's post-mortem was conducted by an eight-member team of senior doctors.

The team comprised PIMS Hospital’s Dr Khalid Masud, Prof SH Waqar, Prof Dr Mumtaz Khan Niazi, Prof Dr Farrukh Kamal, Dr Irshad Hussain, Dr Nasreen Butt, Dr Altaf Hussain and Dr Mohammad Umar Farooq.

Blood and other samples have been obtained from the body, which would be sent to the Lahore Forensic Laboratory for analysis. During the post-mortem, Arshad’s remains were sent from the mortuary to the radiology department, where doctors conducted CT scans and X-rays of different parts of the body.

Sources said the final report of Arshad’s post-mortem could take two weeks to prepare. Arshad’s body is likely to be taken to the Quaid-e-Azam International Hospital mortuary later.

Arshad’s wife wrote in a tweet that she was present during the process. She added that the PIMS administration and police had cooperated with her. Arshad’s funeral would be held on Thursday (today) at Shah Faisal Mosque.

Arshad was shot dead by the Kenyan police in a case of “mistaken identity” while he was travelling to Nairobi from Magadi town on Sunday night. Later, a Kenyan police statement expressed “regrets on the unfortunate incident” and said that the incident was being probed.