The mother of a murdered news anchor wants the PTI head to answer some questions
Asks the Supreme Court to have the investigation begin in Pakistan, “where the murder conspiracy was hatched.”
ISLAMABAD:
The mother of murdered journalist Arshad Sharif has asked the Supreme Court to establish a joint investigative team (JIT) to question those who claim to know who plotted her son’s murder, including the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
On Thursday, Sharif’s mother filed a CMA with the Supreme Court, arguing that the JIT should commence its probe in Pakistan, “where the conspiracy to kill my son was hatched.”
Many people have been identified making claims regarding those involved in the murder’s conspiracy and its execution, and this, as far as anyone can tell, is documented.
She claimed that in order to find the real culprits, the investigation needs six people: the PTI president, former ministers Faisal Vawda and Murad Saeed, media tycoon Salman Iqbal, and journalist Imran Riaz Khan.
The petitioner claims that she and her lawyer have been “kept in the dark about the persons who joined investigation of the case” and have not been provided access to a fact finding report or the report of the JIT.
On October 23, 2022, Kenyan police shot and killed Sharif, a Pride of Performance award winner and investigative journalist. The shooting was later ruled a case of mistaken identity.
On December 7, 2022, Pakistan’s Chief Justice (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial took suo motu notice of the “brutal killing of senior journalist,” and on December 8, 2022, the government informed a five-judge court led by CJP Bandial that it had created a JIT to investigate the killing.
See: Supreme Court suggests convening judicial commission in Arshad assassination case
Islamabad Police DIG Awais Ahmed oversaw the special Joint Investigation Team (JIT), which included operatives from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Military Intelligence (MI), as well as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), led by Sajid Kayani.
The bench had complained about the team’s inquiry taking too long last month. If the JIT didn’t make significant progress by the next hearing date (June 13), it said it will pursue further options.
CJP Bandial had commented on the JIT’s progress report, saying that the JIT “swung into action” the day before the hearing of the case.
The JIT was questioned if they had gathered any evidence by Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi. Concerns regarding the JIT’s investigating speed are very real for us. And we mean business about looking into this matter.”
According to statements made by Pakistan’s AGP Mansoor Awan, the JIT got a letter from the UAE on April 11 and responded to it on April 29.
Some reports claim that the UAE authorities requested Sharif to leave the Gulf state after he fled Pakistan to avoid arrest. He eventually settled in Kenya, where he met his untimely end.
According to Justice Naqvi, the JIT has already given Kenyan authorities 20 mobile phone numbers and asked for the WhatsApp logs of these phones. The JIT’s numbers seem a bit off; where did they come from?
The AGP informed the bench that these figures had been included in the fact finding report that had been created by a two-person team. “All these phone numbers belong to the people who were present at the crime scene [on Oct 23],” he added, adding that the JIT would depart for the UAE and Kenya on May 17.
