Businessman's murder suspect held in Shahkot

Police say suspect was traced to Nankana Sahib after five-day search

FAISALABAD:

Police claimed to have arrested a suspect accused of killing a businessman during a carjacking, police sources said on Thursday.

The suspect, identified as Umair Khalid, son of retired police constable Muhammad Khalid, was arrested from Shahkot in Nankana Sahib district.

Police have also recovered the alleged murder weapon and a motorcycle at his identification, the sources said.

According to police, businessman Rehan Ashraf was shot dead on the night of October 17 after leaving an event at Chenab Club with his family in the Civil Lines area.

The suspect allegedly seized his vehicle and drove away with a child inside. When Ashraf pursued him using a vehicle tracker and tried to apprehend him, the suspect allegedly opened fire, hitting him in the neck.

Police said the suspect abandoned the vehicle on Jaranwala Road and escaped in a rickshaw.

He later collected his motorcycle from the Hilal-e-Ahmar stand and returned home.

Following the registration of a murder case, Faisalabad City Police Officer Tanveer Hussain formed investigation teams comprising police station heads, deputy superintendents and superintendents of police, alongside Crime Control Department (CCD) teams.

Investigators used CCTV footage to trace the suspect.

Police sources said a subsequent search operation in Chak 73 GB, Gudian, revealed that the suspect had left for Shahkot to stay with his wife's relatives after telling his father about the incident.

Information provided to the Civil Lines and Millat Town station house officers, Inspector Syed Atiqur Rehman Shah and Mian Ali Akbar, helped investigators narrow down his whereabouts.

Police contacted the suspect's family and learnt that he had gone to Shahkot, where a raid led to his arrest.