SUKKUR: The Khairpur police have arrested the wife of murdered district attorney, Liaquat Ali Phulpoto, after she confessed to have drugged him before he was shot dead by her brother and one of his friends six days ago.

Advocate Phulpoto’s wife, Shahnaz Parveen, had undergone intense interrogation on Sunday, a couple of days after her brother, Sajid Phulpoto, was made to confess that he, along with his friend, Asad Lashari alias Boro, had shot dead Liquat Phulpoto.

The senior lawyer was killed in the Saidah locality, falling within the jurisdiction of the A-Section police station of Khairpur.

The police started interrogating Sajid soon after the incident and were satisfied that he was the actual killer of his brother-in-law. Sajid was arrested on Saturday (March 15) after he broke during interrogation and confessed to have committed the murder along with Asad Boro Lashari.

In her confessional statement, according to the police, Shahnaz said her husband had made her life extremely miserable with his rude and aggressive attitude towards her. She said quarrels between them had become a daily routine and this forced her to get rid of him.

She said she and her brother Sajid planned the murder. As per the plan, she said, she drugged her husband and then Sajid and Boro shot him dead.

City DSP Faraz Maitlo, who was assigned the investigation of the district attorney’s murder case, said that several other family members of Liaquat Phulpoto were interrogated to reach the culprits. Various other aspects of the matter were taken into consideration to ensure that the investigation was being conducted in right direction, he added.

He claimed that Lashari had also confessed to his role in the murder.

Shahnaz was sent to Khairpur’s women police station and Sajid and Lashari were kept at the A-Section police station’s lock-up.

“We are continuing further investigation into the case to see if more people were involved in the murder,” the DSP said.

The deceased lawyer’s daughter, Rafia Mahnoor, told local reporters that her father was actually poisoned before he was shot dead.

She said the police had arrested the three real culprits, and claimed that they had backing of some influential figures of the area as well.

Shahnaz had previously married to one, Aziz Phulpoto, and has three children from him. An SSP-rank officer in the Customs, Aziz was killed during ethnic violence in Karachi. Shahnaz then married to Advocate Liaquat Phulpto and has four children from him.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2025