Deal gone bad: Con artist shot dead, accomplice injured

FAISALABAD:

A man, police said had pretended to be a police superintendent, was shot dead on Thursday following an argument with a man he was trying to defraud.

Police said an accomplice of the deceased was injured. He was taken to a hospital, where doctors treating him said that he would likely survive.

Madina Town police arrested the assailant, later identified as Sarmad Qayyum, a resident of Chichawatni. They said he had confessed to the killing.

Police said Qayyum told them that the deceased, Muhammad Tariq of Dera Ghazi Khan, had told him that he was a police superintendent. He said Tariq ran a marriage bureau.

Qayyum said he had contacted Tariq to arrange his cousin’s marriage.



He said he later discovered that Tariq was a con artist. He said he asked him to meet him on Thursday and return the money. He said when Tariq and his friend Muhammad Arbaz came to meet him, and following an argument Tariq refused to return the money. He said he shot Tariq, who died on the spot. His friend was also hit and injured. Some passers-by caught Qayyum and informed the police.

Madina Town SP Nasir Sial told The Express Tribune that Tariq was in police uniform when he was shot. He said investigation had revealed that Tariq used to swindle people through fake marriage proposals and business offers.

He had pretended to be a police SP and at times a retired army major. He said Tariq had been married thrice.

The body has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2013.