Election-day murder: Police yet to trace seven suspects in PTI worker’s killing

Primary accused already out on pre-arrest bail.

RAWALPINDI: With election-fever having subsided as the incoming government takes shape, a gruesome polling day murder in Rawalpindi is nowhere close to being solved. On May 11, Usman, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) worker, was gunned down by a group of unknown persons, with the crime having been caught on camera.

The main accused, Irfan Butt, secured bail before arrest from a Rawalpindi court.

“We have arrested the main culprit who is seen firing on PTI workers in the video,” investigation officer (IO) Misal Sharif told The Express Tribune.

Despite having footage of the culprits, the investigation team is yet to nab any of the other suspects visible in the video.

A total of eight unknown persons were nominated in the FIR lodged in New Town Police Station, but their names have not yet been disclosed by the police.

PTI workers claim that the police are being restrained from taking action against the rest of the culprits as they are being “protected” by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, whose candidate, Hanif Abbasi, lost the NA-56 seat by a huge margin to PTI chief Imran Khan.

“The police’s inaction is proof of their non-serious attitude regarding the investigation as they know where the culprits are hiding,” alleged Imran, a relative of the deceased.

He said that the police could easily trace the rest of the killers if they wanted, as they can be identified on camera.

However, Sharif said efforts to apprehend the accused attackers are underway and the issue is being investigated from every angle.

He said the main accused getting a bail will help the investigation team in reaching his accomplices. “The court will ultimately cancel his bail and order police to arrest him and then we will interrogate him ‘in our own way’,” he said.

However, one investigation officer involved with this case, Sub-inspector Sabir, was suspended a few days ago, while IO Sharif was also transferred late on Sunday. The reasons behind the suspension and transfer could not be ascertained.

“Suspension and transfers of IOs are affecting the investigation process, which is why rest of the culprits are still at large,” said a New Town police official.

However, the official rejected the PTI workers’ allegation that the PML-N local leadership was protecting the killers by pressurising the police.

“PML-N leaders have nothing to do with the case and they have not even been nominated in the FIR,” he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2013.