Father seeks justice in year-old murder

Police register murder case against victim's wife, her relatives a year after his death

RAWALPINDI:

A case has been registered against individuals allegedly involved in the murder of a young man within the jurisdiction of the Civil Lines Police Station a year ago.

Police sources said that the complainant, Muhammad Zafar, stated in his FIR that his daughter-in-law, Iram Akbar, left his house and went to live with her family following a dispute between her and his son, Ali Raza. Zafar explained that sometime later, Iram's brother, Imran came to his house along with a friend, Raja Badar Munir Saghar, on the evening of October 25, 2025.

He said that Imran proposed arranging a reconciliation between his sister and Ali Raza by suggesting that Ali Raza come with them to meet Iram. Zafar and Ali Raza agreed to the proposition, and Zafar saw his son leave with the two men. He named Shahbaz Ahmed Mughal as a witness to this exchange.

Zafar said that quite a few hours passed and night fell but Ali Raza did not return home. He said that he tried calling Imran and his other family members, but none of them were reachable. He recounted that he continued to look for his son at various hospitals and police stations for several days.

Later, when he inquired about his son at the Civil Lines Police Station, the police showed him a photograph of an unidentified body, which he recognised as that of his son's. According to the report, the police had buried Ali Raza as an unclaimed body on October 29, 2025, claiming that he had been struck by a train in Dhok Chiragh Din. Zafar, refusing to believe the police's account, insisted that his son had been murdered; however, he said that his concerns went unheeded.

Zafar said that upon conducting his own inquiries, he learned that following Ali Raza's death, Iram had packed up her belongings overnight and relocated to Okara along with Imran and their father, Muhammad Akbar.

On July 13, 2026, when Zafar was visiting Okara to attend his late sister's chehlum (40th-day memorial), he came face to face with his daughter-in-law's family. He claimed that they subjected him to verbal abuse and Muhammad Akbar told him that since his son had ruined his daughter's life, they had inflicted 'a horrific and exemplary death' upon him.

He said that they also threatened him by saying that 'Now, you shall also meet the same fate as Ali Raza.'

After returning from Okara, Zafar revisited the police station and told the police that his son did not die in an accident. He filed a report, accusing Muhammad Akbar, his children, Afzal, Bilal, Abbas (alias Rambo), Imran, Iram Akbar, his friend Raja Badar Munir Saghar and Abbas of murdering Ali Raza. The police have registered a case and initiated an investigation.