PESHAWAR: The police have arrested four people, including an employee of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission, here on the charge of killing director (admission) of the commission Arshad Khan last July.

Addressing a news conference at the Police Lines here, SSP (Operations) Kashif Aftab Abbasi said the arrested men included the main accused, Miran Jan, and his accomplices including KPPSC assistant Mohsin Ali, Syed Noman Shah and Sajid, while another accused, Hafeez, was at large.

He said the police were searching for the fugitive.

Mr Abbasi said the police had recovered a motorcycle and weapons used in the murder of Mr Arshad on July 24 in the limits of the Shahpur police station.

Police say search for fifth accused under way

He said the accused tried to show the murder as a targeted killing.

The SSP said accused Syed Noman Shah applied for the assistant director’s position and used to visit KPPSC offices to build rapport with officials to claim the post but Mr Arshad, an honest person, turned out to be a hurdle.

He added that KPPSC assistant Mohsin Ali suggested Mr Arshad’s murder insisting it would help him land the job.

“Mohsin Ali also promised Noman Shah Rs450,000 cash for the murder and provided him with the phone number of the director and registration of his car. Noman Shah called his friend, Hafeez of Tirah area in Khyber tribal district, to Peshawar for the murder. He also roped in Sajid,” he said.

The SSP said the accused visited the Malik Saad Town in Doranpur area four or five times for the murder but they couldn’t target him due to CCTV cameras installed there and decided to kill him behind the wheels.

He added that the accused hired shooter Miran Jan for the murder and purchased a motorcycle for him.

Mr Abbasi said on July 24, Miran Jan went to the Ring Road Chowk in Pishtakhara area on the motorcycle, collected Noman Shah and the pistol and left for Doranpur, while Hafeez reached the crime scene in a rickshaw.

“Noman Shah did a recce of the director’s movement and phoned Hafeez after the director left for office in his car. When the car reached the area, Miran Jan shot him dead and escaped,” he said.

The SSP said the accused later gathered at a hostel in Gharibabad area before Sajid took away the weapon and motorcycle used in the attack.

He said three days after the attack, Noman Shah paid Rs250,000 to Hafeez, who asked for Rs250,000 more.

Mr Abbasi said the investigation into the matter was under way and the police would go after whosoever was involved in it. He said the police would produce the accused in a local court to claim their physical custody.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2023