SC seeks inquiry report on lawyer’s murder
Police team returns empty-handed after spending 5 days searching for suspect in Dubai.
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court on Saturday took notice of police ‘failure’ in apprehending suspects behind the murder of Muhammad Sardar Khan, former advocate general of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The court directed the Federal Secretary of Interior to submit an inquiry report by November 1.
The apex court took notice of the case after a police team, led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigations Tahir Ayub, failed to arrest the prime suspect in Sardar Khan’s murder case, Roohullah Khan. The team went to Dubai to search for the suspect but returned home empty-handed on October 24 after searching for around 5 days. The team was being assisted by International Police (Interpol), which had issued “red warrants” against the suspect.
Roohullah was believed to have escaped to Dubai soon after he was found to be the prime suspect in Sardar Khan’s murder. Police said the mission failed because Roohullah had already escaped from Dubai. “He could have obtained prior information of a possible raid and escaped to Afghanistan,” a police official said. However other police officials said he had fled to England.
On Friday, SSP Operations Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan told the three member bench of the Supreme Court that police were close to the suspects but sought more time from the court.
Sardar Khan was gunned down in the capital city in February this year while making an attempt to break free from his kidnappers. The lawyer had received a volley of bullets and could only be identified by his close relatives. The case remained a headache for investigators for quite some time before they traced it to a woman, Rubina.
But the case became more complicated when police found Rubina dead in her apartment in Bhara Kahu. Investigations revealed that the two murders were inter-linked.
According to police, the lawyer was contesting a case from the side of Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) for a 140 kanals of land, which was allegedly in illegal possession of Roohullah Khan.
Roohullah Khan, whose father enjoyed cordial relations with the current Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, initially tried to bribe the lawyer but failed. As a backup plan, the suspect tried to kidnap Sardar when he visited his daughter’s house in Islamabad in February.
Rubina, who was later found killed in Bhara Kahu, had contacted him on phone, requesting to contest a case of her relative and seeking a meeting with him. He was kidnapped from sector G-11 in Rubina’s car and was killed when he tried to jump out of the speeding car, in which he was being transferred to Peshawar.
Rubina was allegedly a girlfriend of one of Roohullah’s friends and was being used to trap the lawyer. Subsequently, she was eliminated by the killers, fearing she might leak the motive behind the murder, police said.
Every time the Islamabad police tried to arrest the suspect, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police intervened and resisted his arrest. Some three months after the murder, Khan left the country and was later found in Dubai.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2010.
The Supreme Court on Saturday took notice of police ‘failure’ in apprehending suspects behind the murder of Muhammad Sardar Khan, former advocate general of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The court directed the Federal Secretary of Interior to submit an inquiry report by November 1.
The apex court took notice of the case after a police team, led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigations Tahir Ayub, failed to arrest the prime suspect in Sardar Khan’s murder case, Roohullah Khan. The team went to Dubai to search for the suspect but returned home empty-handed on October 24 after searching for around 5 days. The team was being assisted by International Police (Interpol), which had issued “red warrants” against the suspect.
Roohullah was believed to have escaped to Dubai soon after he was found to be the prime suspect in Sardar Khan’s murder. Police said the mission failed because Roohullah had already escaped from Dubai. “He could have obtained prior information of a possible raid and escaped to Afghanistan,” a police official said. However other police officials said he had fled to England.
On Friday, SSP Operations Islamabad Tahir Alam Khan told the three member bench of the Supreme Court that police were close to the suspects but sought more time from the court.
Sardar Khan was gunned down in the capital city in February this year while making an attempt to break free from his kidnappers. The lawyer had received a volley of bullets and could only be identified by his close relatives. The case remained a headache for investigators for quite some time before they traced it to a woman, Rubina.
But the case became more complicated when police found Rubina dead in her apartment in Bhara Kahu. Investigations revealed that the two murders were inter-linked.
According to police, the lawyer was contesting a case from the side of Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) for a 140 kanals of land, which was allegedly in illegal possession of Roohullah Khan.
Roohullah Khan, whose father enjoyed cordial relations with the current Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, initially tried to bribe the lawyer but failed. As a backup plan, the suspect tried to kidnap Sardar when he visited his daughter’s house in Islamabad in February.
Rubina, who was later found killed in Bhara Kahu, had contacted him on phone, requesting to contest a case of her relative and seeking a meeting with him. He was kidnapped from sector G-11 in Rubina’s car and was killed when he tried to jump out of the speeding car, in which he was being transferred to Peshawar.
Rubina was allegedly a girlfriend of one of Roohullah’s friends and was being used to trap the lawyer. Subsequently, she was eliminated by the killers, fearing she might leak the motive behind the murder, police said.
Every time the Islamabad police tried to arrest the suspect, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police intervened and resisted his arrest. Some three months after the murder, Khan left the country and was later found in Dubai.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2010.