Not allowed to meet one of four shooters: FIA DG

ISLAMABAD:

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) DG Mohsin Hassan Butt on Saturday said that they were not allowed to meet one of the four shooters who had opened fire on slain journalist Arshad Sharif.

In an interview with an American channel, the FIA DG said that he was sure about the involvement of Kenyan police in the “target killing” of Sharif.

Butt said Kenyan police had refused to produce one of the four officers before the Pakistani investigators.

“This officer was among those who opened fire on Arshad Sharif. His hand was injured two weeks ago. It is strange not to give access to this officer because his statement would have been important,” the FIA DG said.

Butt further revealed that the Pakistani investigators interrogated three Kenyan police shooters. “Their (three Kenyan police shooters) statements were seriously contradictory and were illogical.”

In a separate interview, Jamshaid Hussein Khan, the co-owner of Ammodump, where slain journalist Sharif spent his last hours, stated that the "area was safe" and during the last decade, "no problems had occurred" prior to the incident.

Meanwhile, the management of PIMS Hospital has formed a two-member committee to investigate the issue of leaking of photos taken during the post-mortem of Sharif.

Sharif was shot dead on the outskirts of Kenya's Nairobi city on October 23. His death sent shock waves across rights organisations, the media fraternity and civil society and prompted calls for thorough investigation and disclosure of facts.