LAHORE, Nov 12: The city investigation police in a report submitted to the IG on the murder of business tycoon Seth Abid’s son and four others does not see any `hidden hand’ behind the crime as being suspected by the father of the deceased.

The report, which was submitted on Saturday in connection with the murder of Hafiz Seth Ayaz by a private security guard, Rizwan, and carrying detailed interrogations about the culprit and the other people taken into custody, so far fails to detect any `hidden hand’ in the murder as being suspected by Seth Abid and his family.

The police sources say Seth Abid suspects that “some hidden hand at the national level” was behind the killing of his son to destroy his family business.

“A conspiracy has been hatched against my family and business and the culprit and other arrested people might have links with that hidden hand,” the police investigators quoted Seth Abid as saying.

Mr Abid, in order to further strengthen the police investigation, has announced a cash reward of Rs20 million for the person who will provide any tangible and solid information leading to identification of motive behind the incident.

However, the sources said neither Seth Abid had informed the police about any particular suspect nor anyone else had contacted the family after the reward money was advertised through print media.

The police investigation further reveals that there is no clue to any common link among the eight people, including Rizwan, who were taken into custody.

However, police said, two of the arrested people, Khurram and Afzal Dogar, abetted the crime in the sense that they did not tell the police the whole story.

A car rider, Khurram, who claimed that he was stopped by Rizwan on gunpoint and was asked to drop him outside the city, did not inform the police that he left the accused at Afzal Dogar’s outhouse, at Khamba Garain village adjacent to the Air Lines Housing Society.

Meanwhile, Afzal Dogar, who also worked for 10 years as a watchman with Seth Abid and now sold milk, said Khurram, along with Rizwan, came to him around 5:30pm. Dogar claims that Khurram asked him to give new clothes to Rizwan, who was being chased by some people.

“I gave Rizwan new clothes who burnt his uniform on the premises of the outhouse,” Afzal told the police investigators Rizwan claimed that Afzal burnt his uniform and then asked a neighbour, Nasir Masih, to leave Rizwan on Raiwind Road on a bicycle.

The other people who are in custody include Mian Saeed, general manager of Time Security Agency, security guard Ramzan, operations manager Noor Nabi and ex-employee

Arif.

Meanwhile, sources said in a fresh move the provincial high-ups and IG on Sunday issued a new directive to the police to trace identity cards and record of cell phone calls made by Rizwan and other people to find any vital clue to the crime motive.

Seth Abid and the complainant, Dr Sajid Saeed, were not available for comments despite repeated attempts.