Police officials escort Shahrukh Jatoi to court in Karachi. PHOTO: PPI
He was dressed like a lawyer – in trademark black suit and a necktie. But the witnesses did not err. They identified Shahrukh Jatoi as the alleged killer of Shahzeb Khan, the young son of a police officer who was shot dead in the upscale Defence neighbourhood of Karachi on December 25.
The two witnesses picked out Shahrukh Jatoi, the son of business titan Skinder Jatoi, during an identification parade ordered by Waqar Ahmed Soomro, the judicial magistrate (South) on Saturday. Names of the witnesses have not been disclosed by the prosecution for security reasons.
Shahrukh Jatoi, who had slipped away from the country to evade arrest after the murder, was brought back by the police on Thursday after he was deported from Dubai.
Ten “dummies” were lined up for the witnesses for three times. And each time they picked out Shahrukh. Each time, the suspect stood in a different place, wearing different clothes. “At one point, he was wearing a black suit like a lawyer,” a source told The Express Tribune.
Shahrukh is said to have objected to the identification. “He told the judge that the media had already disclosed his identity upon his arrival at the Karachi airport,” said defence lawyer Naeem Qureshi. “So, anyone can easily identify me either by face or by my name,” Qureshi quoted Jatoi as telling the judge.
The judge, however, silenced the defendant, saying the identification parade was not meant to record his testimony.
“The witnesses told the judge that they were passing by when they saw Shahrukh Jatoi firing on the moving car of Shahzeb Khan. As a result, the vehicle overturned. Then, Shahrukh again fired at him (Shahzeb),” Inspector Muhammad Mobin, an investigator in the case, told journalists outside the court.
On Thursday, an anti-terrorism court remanded Shahrukh in police custody for seven days. The prosecution maintains that 21-year-old Shahzeb was killed by Shahrukh and his friend, Nawab Siraj Talpur, over a petty dispute.
Siraj Talpur, his brother Sajjad Talpur and their servant Ghulam Murtaza have already been tracked down and identified by witnesses and have been in police custody since January 7.
The suspect was brought to the court in an armoured personnel carrier escorted by a police mobile van. Witnesses were also brought to the court amid tight security, and were not allowed to meet anyone on the court premises.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2013.
COMMENTS (3)
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Did they recognize him through a bag on his head too?
God Bless those witnesses for stepping forward and stating the truth..even in this day and age where law and order doesnt mean a thing in the country, where lives are easily taken at the blink of an eye just because someone has the power to do so, there are STILL people in this country whose courage and faith hasn't deterred by such heinous crimes (even if their identities are kept private). May Allah keep those witnesses safe and out of harm and evil one's reach. Ameen
The court should set an example and give exemplary punishment to the culprits. All eyes are on us, as Pakistanis and as Muslims.