A fatal affair?: Man killed, dumped in Kabul River

Hindu community’s representative says the victim went missing from his home on Sunday.

NOWSHERA: A young Hindu man who went missing after leaving his home on Sunday was reportedly killed in Nowshera district, police said on Tuesday.

A Nowshera Cantonment police official said Dil Raj filed a complaint saying his brother Himraj, 21, left home when two boys identified as Junaid and Fakhre Alam called him. He added Himraj failed to return home on the day and the police started an investigation based on Dil Raj’s complaint.

The missing boy’s uncle Haroon Sarabdiyal, who is also the chairman of All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement, told The Express Tribune his nephew was shot and killed in Nowshera district on Monday. He confirmed Himraj had gone missing from his house a day earlier and the family was later informed he had been murdered.

Sarabdiyal claimed the killers dumped the body in Kabul River near Pir Sabaq area of the district. However, it had not been recovered till the filing of this report. He added divers were now searching for the body in the waters of Misri Banda area of Nowshera.

Although they expressed ignorance over Himraj’s murder a day earlier, the police confirmed on Tuesday that the young man had been killed. They also registered an FIR against the three suspected killers Junaid Alam, Fakhre Alam and Hamna. A policeman said Himraj was killed due to his relations with the girl mentioned in the FIR, adding further investigation is under way.

Sarabdiyal mentioned that the killers were associates of the deceased and that was the reason he went to meet them after receiving the call. While Sarabdyal claimed the police have arrested the killers, law enforcers refused to verify these reports. Sarabdyal urged the government to help minorities and protect them.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2015.