After three murders, family blocks GT Road for over two hours

Man, his son and nephew were given spiked drinks and then killed for their pickup truck.

ISLAMABAD:

The bodies of a man, his son and his nephew were found chopped into pieces in Mandi Bahauddin on Saturday.

The news of the murders sent shockwaves around Dhoke Abbasi in Tarnol after their families were informed.

The Mandi Bahauddin police informed the family of 42-year-old Dil Khurram that he was found dead along with his son, Muhammad Waqas, 22, and nephew, Muhammad Usman, 22, in the Miana Gondal area of Mandi Bahauddin.

When the bodies arrived at Dhoke Abbasi, family members and neighbours, grieving and enraged, placed the coffins on Grand Trunk (GT) Road near Sarai Kharbooza and protested against what they claimed was apathy on the part of the local authorities and the Tarnol police.

They stayed there for more than two hours and offered the funeral prayers on the road, before dispersing. Tarnol police ASP Ghiyas Gul did not reach the spot to negotiate an end to the protest.

“We want the killers of my uncle to be hanged quickly,” said a nephew of Khurram.

The Mandi Bahauddin police said a murder case was registered against four suspects by the Miana Gondal police and three of them are already in police custody. However, the principle suspect is still on the loose.

Khurrum and the two boys were couriering timber in their pickup truck, a Hyundai Shehzore. They were booked by Muhammad Ansar, a local of their hometown, to transport the timber to Sargodha on Friday.

The Mandi Bahauddin police got wind of the murders by chance, after picking up the three booked men for attempting to steal Khurrum’s truck, police said. The suspects had sought the help of a local key maker to disable the vehicle’s security system. However, the mechanic got suspicious and informed the police about it. The police raided the shop and arrested the trio for attempted auto-theft.

Later, during investigations, the suspects told the police that they booked Khurram to transport the timber to Sargodha. On their way back, they gave the three truck men spiked juice and took them to Miana Gondal after they passed out.

“To remove any evidence, they decided to chop the bodies into pieces,” said a family member, quoting police officials. They mutilated the bodies beyond recognition.

On their information, the bodies were recovered by the police and were sent to Islamabad after postmortem. Khurram was a father of five while Muhammad Usman is survived by his mother and a younger sister.

The Tarnol police said a case was registered in Mandi Bahauddin as the crime took place in their jurisdiction. “We can only help them investigate and to trace the suspect if they make a request but the main investigation will be carried out by them,” said a Tarnol police official.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2012.