Kohistan killings: Another accused in triple-murder case arrested

Accused charged with murder, past arrests were for abetment; police now have six in custody.

MANSEHRA:

The Kohistan police on Saturday arrested the sixth accused in a triple murder case in Mansehra. The accused was identified as Shamsuddin and has been charged with the murders of Sher Wali, Rafiuddin and Shah Faisal, all older brothers of Afzal Kohistani.

Shams is among 12 accused who were charged with gunning down the three brothers on January 3 in Gadaar Village of Palas Tehsil. The Kohistan and Mansehra police conducted a joint raid at a house in Mansehra and arrested Shamsuddin, said Kohistan District Police Officer Akbar Ali. He was hopeful that the police would arrest the other accused soon. He said tribal elders have already been warned of an operation if they failed to hand over the accused.

Earlier, the police arrested five persons including Molvi Noorul Haq, Sabeer Khan, Jengir Khan, Maulvi Javed and Mosam Khan, who are all charged with abetment. Maulvi Javed, who runs a seminary in Mansehra, was accused of chairing the controversial jirga held last May which condemned five women from the same tribe and two boys from the Salehkhel tribe on the basis of a video shot at a marriage ceremony.



Four women were caught in the footage clapping and singing while two boys, later identified as Bin Yasir and Gul Nazar, were dancing.

According to Afzal Kohistani, on the alleged decree of the jirga, all four women and the teenage sister of one of them were slaughtered and secretly buried on May 31.

After the story broke, the two boys were arrested and sent to jail on charges of capturing the video footage and publicly releasing it without permission. They were later granted bail by a local court.



However, a fact-finding mission assigned to submit a report to the Supreme Court rejected Afzal’s plea, declared that all the women were alive and the jirga headed by Maulvi Javed had assured them of their security.

The complicated case again took a new turn when Afzal Kohistani’s brothers were shot dead in what he claimed was the repercussion of his revelation about the video and jirga’s decision. He has filed an application with the Supreme Court seeking re-opening of the case as he still believes that all the women were killed and more killing could take place if the culprits are not brought to justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2013.