Slain journalist laid to rest

Sukkur media persons announce sit-in to demand early arrest of suspected killers

HYDERABAD:

As the Sukkur police remained tight-lipped about the motive behind the killing of journalist Jan Muhammad Mahar in that district on Sunday night, he was laid to rest in his ancestral village Chak in Shikarpur district on Monday.

Thousands of people attended the burial rites and later staged a sitin demonstration in Chak.

Although, Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah disclosed on Monday that the police have laid their hands on some evidence in the murder case, the officers declined to comment over the progress in the probe.

Shah told the media that he has directed the police to take action on the basis of the available evidence.

The killing sparked a reaction across the country, especially in Sindh where protests were held in almost all the districts by the unions of journalists and the press clubs.

The media workers condemned the murder and demanded arrest of the culprits and exposing the real motive behind the crime.

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Jamaate- Ulema-e-Islam's Sindh president Rashid Mehmood Soomro, Sindh Taraqi Pasand party's chairman Dr Qadir Magsi, Qaumi Awami Tehreek's president Ayaz Latif Palijo and other nationalist leaders condemned the killing and condoled with the bereaved family.

Mahar, 42 years old, was attacked by men riding on a motorbike when he left the office of his news channel around 9.15 pm to return to his home.

He was attacked on Queens Road near St Savior School.

He sustained three gunshots and succumbed to his fatal injuries in Hira hospital over two hours later.

Journalist Protection Commission held an emergency meeting in Karachi on Monday, presided by Chairman justice Rasheed A Rizvi, has sought a report about the case from the IGP Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon.

The Sukkur based journalists have announced a sit-in protest outside the SSP office for August 15.