Murder accused arrested in UAE after 15 years on the run

Victim’s daughter alerted police to absconder’s presence

KARACHI:

A woman’s quest to get her father’s murderer face justice ended after nearly 15 years, when the information she provided led to the arrest of the prime suspect through Interpol in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Muhammad Ahmed Amjad, a regional head at the State Life Insurance Corporation, was gunned down in his office in Karachi in 2008. Syed Taqi Shah, a senior manager, was nominated as the main accused.

A court declared him absconder in 2009, while his identity card and passport were blocked last year. The murder case was registered at the Mithadar police station on the complaint of Amjad’s personal assistant Muhammad Arif, who was witness to the murder. The murder weapon and bullet shells of a handgun were recovered from the crime scene. Police investigation suggested that Shah had murdered Amjad for ordering a corruption inquiry against him.

The court, which had declared Shah absconder on the basis of evidence in 2009, also issued life-time nonbailable arrest warrants in his name. In 2010, the court ordered the FIA and NADRA to block the national identity card and passport of the accused.

The orders were complied with and the procedure was completed on Nov 24, 2022. According to police, Shah had fled to the UAE to settle there permanently. Chance encounter Amjad’s daughter Maham was a teenager when her father was brutally murdered.

A successful model and entrepreneur, she has since relocated to Dubai. In all this time, she has continued efforts to highlight the case and bring her father’s murderer to justice. Last year, Maham identified Taqi Shah in the UAE. She approached authorities in Karachi, including South district DIG Irfan Baloch. Another investigation was launched under the superintendent of police for Investigation.

They acquired the travel history of the accused and found that he had fled to Lahore after the murder from where he flew to the UAE on October 24, 2008. The Interpol was brought in, and the transnational body issued a “red notice” for Shah’s arrest on the request of Pakistani authorities.

On Jan 25, 2023, Interpol arrested the accused in the UAE and requested the Pakistani authorities to fulfill legal formalities for his extradition within 30 days. Police added that they completed the required legal procedure within three days.