The Khyber Pakthunkhwa Police on Friday arrested a man from Palas who is suspected to be involved in the killing of Afzal Kohistani — the man responsible for exposing the Kohistan video scandal.
Kohistani was shot dead on Wednesday evening in the densely populated area of Sarban Chowk at around 8:10pm by unidentified gunmen who managed to flee afterwards.
According to witnesses, Afzal was shot multiple times and died on the spot, while three passersby were also injured.
Abbottabad District Police Officer (DPO) Abbas Majeed Marwat confirmed the arrest, saying that the suspect was taken into custody during a raid in the Palas district of Kohistan.
“A police party raided a house in the far flung region of Palas and arrested a man identified as Mausam Khan,” Abbas Marwat told DawnNewsTV.
He said that the police had arrested the man after an initial investigation was carried out in the Afzal Kohistani murder. Marwat also confirmed that a weapon has been recovered from the suspect’s possession.
According to Marwat, the accused will presented before a judicial magistrate so that his physical remand can be obtained.
Police have already arrested Kohistani’s nephew, Faizur Rehman, in connection to the murder after he was nominated in the FIR.
The case against Rehman has been registered under Section 302 (punishment of qatl-i-amd) and 307 (cases in which qisas for qatl-i-amd shall not be enforced) of the Pakistan Penal Code. However, no case was registered against the unidentified persons who had reportedly shot Afzal, according to initial reports.
This development had infuriated Afzal’s family member, who objected to the registration of the case against Rehman and staged a protest outside Abbottabad’s Cantt police station.
They claimed that the accused had accompanied his uncle for his protection as he had been constantly receiving death threats. The two had come to Abbottabad to meet Afzal’s lawyer.
The family demanded Rehman’s release, the holding of a judicial inquiry and the provision of protection for the lives of Afzal’s heirs: his wife and five children.
Today, the DPO told DawnNewsTV that Rahman was presented before the judicial magistrate to record his statement.
