CHAKWAL, March 20: A young man arrested by police on Sunday for murder confessed to the crime, saying it was in revenge for the murder of his father about 18 years ago.

Accused Ishtiaq, 28, of Moorat village had gone into hiding after axing to death Sahab Khan on March 13 at the same spot where his father Kabir Ahmad was killed before his eyes on September 2, 1993.

Ishtiaq was just 11 and a student of class four then.

“I kept begging Sahab Khan and his accomplice Mohammad Khan for mercy but they did not listen to my cries and killed my father in cold blood,” Ishtiaq reportedly told SHO Azhar Hasan of Saddar Police Station after his arrest. “I was too young to take on the two murderous men but I took their vile act to heart and resolved to take revenge one day.”

A case regarding the murder of Kabir Ahmad was registered by the Saddar police and the two accused, Sahab Khan and Mohammad Khan, were arrested, tried and sentenced to imprisonment.

Ishtiaq had wanted them hanged. His hurt, he said, burnt more intensely when the two came out free about two years back after serving their prison terms.

On March 13, he said, he got his chance to take revenge and hacked Sahab Khan to death. “The fire of vengeance that had been burning in my heart for 18 years got extinguished as I killed Sahab Khan in the same manner he had killed my father.”

The young man, who is now “at peace” with himself, will be produced before a court today (Monday).