Love triangle?: Claiming murder, dead man’s relatives say police protecting killers

Shahvez was found dead in I-8; police claim it was suicide, sources say evidence hints at foul play.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad Police are reluctant to arrest and investigate two people nominated as accused in the death of Malik Shahvez, creating doubts about free and fair investigations.

Malik Shahvez, 22 and an MBA student at a local university, was found dead in a greenbelt in Sector I-8/2 under mysterious circumstances on April 8. Since that day, the police have been claiming it was a suicide case, although the evidence available suggests foul play.

The situation has created resentment among relatives of the deceased, who cannot comprehend what factors are behind the police’s belief that it was a suicide case rather than a murder.

During preliminary investigations, the police tracked the calls records of the two accused, who were nominated in the first information report. The accused include a teacher at the university and a woman who studied in the same university and was allegedly Shahvez’s ex-girlfriend.

According to police sources, Shahvez had been in a relationship with Nadia* last year. The relationship lasted for “a few months”. Later the girl, allegedly got into a friendship with Maqbool* a 28-year- old teacher at the same university.

Meanwhile, Shahvez’s calls records suggest he and Nadia had renewed their relationship a few months ago, which infuriated Maqbool.

“Shahvez even complained to his family members about Maqbool’s behaviour a few days before his murder,” Malik Ijaz Amjad, Shahvez’s uncle told The Express Tribune.

Police sources further claimed that during the same period, Nadia was also in regular contact with Maqbool. “We traced the call records and it shows the girl and teacher were in contact until the day Shahvez was found dead. In the past few days, their conversations lasted for hours, but stopped the day Shahvez died,” said a police official involved in the inquiry.

Shavez’s uncle rubbished the suicide theory, saying, “Our whole family was busy with a relative’s wedding. Shahvez attend the wedding at night and on the morning of April 8, he told his sister he will be attending a concert.” Ijaz Amjad added that Shahvez had also asked his sister to iron his clothes for the concert.

It shows he was not depressed and was busy with routine activities, Amjad said.

However, in the seven days that have lapsed since his body was found, the police have not apprehended either of the accused.

“The police were unable to arrest them because both are from rich families. We want the police to arrest and investigate them,” Amjad said.

A senior police official who is also part of team investigating the case said the police found no fingerprints on the gun that was found near Shahvez’s body. “It happens in cases where a person is killed and the crime scene is made to look like a suicide,” the officer said.

However, Industrial Area Zone SP Chaudhry Mohammad Ashfaq admitted that the police have not arrested the accused but underscored the fact that their statements have been recorded.

“Besides both the accused, we have recorded statements from 16 people including relatives and students of the university,” Ashfaq said, adding that to him, it appears to be a suicide, but investigations were still underway.

He negated the impression that police were not carrying out a fair investigation. Ashfaq said charges of murder were included in the FIR on the request of the deceased’s family, but there is still no proof it was a murder. *Names changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2013.