KARACHI: A former police inspector — who was dismissed from service and facing trial in a 2013 Arshad Pappu murder case — and his relative were shot dead in a targeted attack in Saddar on Tuesday, officials and witnesses said.

This is the second such incident after December 2021 when a police officer, who was also dismissed from service due to his alleged involvement in the Pappu murder case, faced the similar fate.

The double murder occurred around 11am on Tuesday when former Kalakot SHO Chand Khan Niazi and his relative Abdul Rehman was returning home on a motorcycle after attending court proceedings in the Arshad Pappu murder case in which Niazi along with Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch was an accused but released on bail.

When they reached Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan Road in Saddar, assailants riding on a motorbike intercepted them and one of them fired multiple shots.

Around three months ago, former SHO Javed Baloch was targeted in similar style

CCTV footage of the incident showed that two apparently young attackers on a motorbike got close to the two-wheeler of the victims and the pillion passenger pulled out a pistol and fired shots at the pillion rider Abdul Rehman.

“He was shot in the head. He fell and died on the spot. Chand Niazi, who was riding the motorbike, sped away and turned into a narrow lane. However, he was chased by the gunman, who fired multiple shots that hit Niazi on the head and shoulder. He fell and died while being taken to hospital. The gunman returned to his aide waiting on the bike and escaped,” said an official.

The officials said that the assailant used a 9mm pistol and the police found more than a dozen spent bullet casings from the crime scene.

They didn’t rule out the possibility of the ex-officer’s past links with the Lyari gang warfare as the possible motive for the targeted attack.

Links with Lyari gangsters in focus

“It would be a little early to reach any conclusion, but apparently the murder seems to be linked with the past case of one of the victims [Chand Niazi]. We have set up an investigation team comprising officials from the Anti-Violent Crime Cell and Special Investigation Unit,” said DIG-South Sharjeel Kharal.

Former SHO Niazi, former SHO Javed Baloch, then inspector Yousuf Baloch and others were accused in the triple murder case of Arshad Pappu, his brother Yasir Arafat and their confidant Juma Shera, who were killed in March 2013.

The police claimed that the accused had killed them at the behest of Uzair Baloch, the chief of the banned Peoples Aman Committee, who along with PPP MNA Shahjehan Baloch, is also nominated in the case.

On Dec 31, 2021, Javed Baloch and his friend Muhammad Mussadiq were shot dead in a similar targeted attack in a Soldier Bazaar locality.

Hearing adjourned

Earlier, an ATC summoned a former investigating officer of the Arshad Pappu murder case for recording his testimony on April 5.

Uzair Baloch, the alleged Lyari kingpin, along with seven others has been charged with murdering rival Arshad Pappu, his brother Arafat and an aide Jumma Shera in the Kalakot neighbourhood in 2013.

On Tuesday, ATC-X judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, was set to record testimony of a prosecution witness, Inspector Abid Ansari. However, the current IO, Inspector Yameen Gujjar, was called absent and the court adjourned the hearing till April 5.

Earlier, Uzair Baloch, Zubair and Zakir were produced from prison while Shah Jahan, Abdul Rehman, Akram, Yousuf and former SHO Inspector Chand Niazi appeared on bail.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2022