After two years, police make an arrest in trader’s murder

Muhammad Arshad was killed while resisting a robbery.

ISLAMABAD:

A suspect involved in the killing of a trader resisting a cellphone mugging near Sohan two years ago was arrested, police said on Wednesday. The murder weapon, a 30-bore pistol, was also recovered from the suspect’s possession, said the police.

The case was transferred to Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) police three months back, after the Shehzad Town police failed to trace the suspects in Muhammad Arshad’s murder. The CIA police started investigating in October 2011 by tracking the victim’s cellphone.

“It was not an easy task as the killers had gotten rid of the phone and all investigations were directed in the wrong direction,” said CIA Deputy Superintendent Bashir Ahmed Noon. He said the phone data was recovered after the phone’s tracking failed to lead to the suspects.

According to the complaint registered with the Shehzad Town police by the victim’s father, Arshad and his co-worker Muhammad Asif were stopped by two gunmen near Arshad’s mobile shop in Faizabad. The armed men tried to rob them and shot Arhsad upon resistance, fatally wounding him.

The suspect was identified by the police as Abdul Haq alias Lahori, a resident of Shah Dara in Lahore.

The police said the suspect is a professional robber, and has confessed to killing Arshad. The CIA police are also looking for his accomplices based on the information provided by him.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2012.