Shahzeb's murder: Suspect’s uncle claims charges are false

Says his nephew Shahrukh Jatoi knew neither Shahzeb nor Nawab Siraj Talpur, the other suspect.

SUKKUR:
The uncle of one of the suspects in Shahzeb Khan’s murder has rejected allegations against his nephew.

At a press conference held in Sukkur, Subedar Khan Jatoi, the brother of Sikander Ali Jatoi whose son Shahrukh Jatoi is a prime suspect in the case, claimed the allegations against his nephew were false. He maintained Shahrukh did not know either Shahzeb or Nawab Siraj Talpur, the second suspect in the murder.

Elaborating his version of the incident, Subedar Jatoi claimed that on December 24 – the day Shahzeb was murdered – his nephew Shahrukh had been driving back home from a McDonald’s outlet in Karachi’s Seaview locality when he was held up near the Country Club by a quarrel between some people. He said Shahrukh, who according to him had been studying in Australia and was spending a 10-day vacation in Karachi, was attacked by the quarrelers initially but was allowed to leave later.



According to Jatoi, while Shahrukh returned home subsequently, sometime later some other men killed Shahzeb near the locality. He asserted that his nephew and Talpur were nominated in the FIR for ‘no apparent reason’.

Jatoi claimed Shahzeb’s father DSP Aurangzeb was related to Pakistan Peoples Party leader Nabil Gabol. He maintained Shahrukh was implicated in the case on Gabol’s insistence, adding that the latter wished to malign Shahrukh’s father Sikander Jatoi politically. Lashing out at DSP Aurangzeb, he demanded the case be investigated by someone ‘considerably honest’.

He asked the government and judiciary to conduct an inquiry into the matter so that both the victim and the innocent party receive justice.


Suspects capture in Dadu

The Express Tribune has learnt that both Shahrukh and Talpur managed to break through a police cordon and evade capture in Dadu on Saturday.

According to police sources, the police team sent from Karachi to investigate Shahzeb’s murder raided a house in Dadu following a tipoff regarding the suspects’ whereabouts. Despite being surrounded, Shahrukh and Talpur managed to evade capture and fled the area.

Police officials claimed that the suspects had been on alert after the media broke the news.

Meanwhile, Inspector Aslam Khakrani, the officer heading the investigation, has said that the police team is currently chasing the suspects in interior of Sindh and was very close to apprehending them. Beyond this, however, the officer refused to share any details regarding the investigation with the media until Shahrukh and Talpur were arrested.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT IN KARACHI)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2012.

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