LAHORE: Senior Superintendent of Police Mufakhar Adeel has surrendered himself to the Lahore police for his involvement in the murder of former law officer Shahbaz Tatla.

He was arrested on Monday night by the investigation police almost a month after his ‘mysterious disappearance’.

The SSP surrendered and confessed to his crime while making horrible revelations that he first strangled the law officer and then burnt his body in acid, a senior police official told Dawn.

The official who shared details of the case on the request of anonymity, said Mufakhar told the investigators that he murdered Shahbaz Tatla in the name of honour. He further said he planned his murder with the connivance of their mutual friend Asad Bhatti.

Declaring him (Asad Bhatti) his partner in the gruesome murder of the law officer, Mufakhar told police that he had arranged a drum and acid from a local market and planned Tatla’s murder in the house he had taken on rent for this very purpose in Faisal Town, the police official said.

Law enforcers say the suspect will be presented in court

The official further told this reporter that as per plan Mufakhar called the law officer at the house and as he reached there, he strangled him to death. He said as the suspected killer was an experienced police officer, he was educated enough about the ways/tactics to escape punishment by eliminating the body (solid evidence) of the deceased in case he was arrested at any stage.

The suspect revealed that he had dissolved Tatla’s body in the drum full of acid and disposed of his remains later, the official said.

About the remains of the dead body, he said, the suspect had given conflicting statements to puzzle the detectives. He initially said he first disposed of the remains of the law officer in a drain in Township and then claimed that he dumped it in the Rohi drain.

About the disappearance, the official said the suspect had escaped to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) after killing the law officer to avoid arrest. He spent most part of that time in the GB and decided to surrender himself when the Lahore investigation police tightened noose around his neck by taking his parents and son into custody, the official said.

Before handing him over to police, he said, the SSP engaged some senior police officers to get assurance that the investigation police would not physically torture him after arrest. After some rounds of talks between the two sides through the senior officers, Mufakhar surrendered himself to the Lahore police on Monday night and police formally mentioned his arrest in the record.

A kidnap case of the deceased was already registered with the Naseerabad police station on Feb 7.

A spokesperson for the Lahore police investigation wing confirmed that the SSP had murdered his friend Shahbaz Tatla in the name of honour. He said suspect Mufakhar had been arrested and investigation would be carried out on merit to take the suspect to court.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2020