SAHIWAL: Family members of victims of a triple murder in February have announced Rs500,000 cash prize to anyone who provides information or clue to the murder that took place late on Feb 21 at an outhouse in village 113/12-L, Chichawatni.

Twenty one-year-old Dubai-return Talmeeezur Rehman, his uncle Zahid Hameed and an employee Rashid Naseer were found shot dead late on Feb 21. Although Chichawatni Saddar police station had registered a murder first information report (FIR) under Section 302 of the PPC on the application of Muhammad Ajmal, brother-in-law of Zahid Hameed, the family claims the investigation was under way at a snail’s pace despite the passage of over three months.

“Police have not found a single clue to the killers,” a family member told Dawn, adding that they had demanded a high-level investigation team at the regional level to probe the murder case.

The delay in investigation led the family to announce cash prize for locals who provided any clue to the murder. The cash reward was advertised through social media, pamphlets distributed in surrounding villages and also small posters pasted in and around Chichawatni city.

Chaudhry Tahir Mahmood, a cousin of the deceased Zahid Hameed and father of Talmeezur Rehman, told Dawn that his son had returned from Dubai only a month before the murder and that they had no enmity with anyone.

Saddar Station House Officer (SHO) Rai Khizar and investigation officer Amin Malooka told Dawn over the phone that most of the family members lived in the UAE and they had not nominated anyone in the FIR.

“They pointed fingers on different occasions at 10 to 13 men living in the village or city who did business with Zahid. Police interrogated them, but found no clue,” the SHO claimed.

Chichawatni Deputy Superintendent of Police Amjad Kamboh confirmed that no specific progress had been made in the investigation. He said police even investigated on the lines of honour killing, business rivalry or financial transaction or fraud by checking bank accounts, but found nothing.

He confessed that it was a blind murder, so far, adding that in such cases where family or complainants did not point fingers at anyone the investigation became complicated. The family demanded a joint investigation team at regional level to trace the culprits.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2018