September 04, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 3, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 3: Police arrested on Wednesday two young brothers in the murder case of famous fashion designer Sheikh-Amir Hassan.

The investigation officer, Sub-Inspector Mazhar Iqbal, told Dawn that the suspects were tracked down after the investigators went through the record of the victim’s cellular phone.

He said the suspects, Amir Hamza and Saad, sons of Mohammed Farooq, were residents of Tariq Road and were arrested near Zamzama Park in Clifton. “The shotgun they had used in the crime was also seized from them,” he added.

The IO quoted Amir Hamza as telling the police that the victim had sexually assaulted him on Aug 9 after giving him a heavy dose of sedatives in a drink.

He also quoted Hamza as telling the investigators that he had met the fashion designer in 2005 at a function and since then they had become friends.

Hamza alleged that the fashion designer had filmed the assault while he was unconscious.

The investigation officer said Hamza came to the victim’s apartment on the night of his murder. When the victim sought to again criminally assault Hamza, he left the apartment only to return with his brother.

The IO said the two brothers, armed with a shotgun, reached the victim’s apartment and Hamza sent a text message to the victim asking him to open the door.

He said the two brothers overpowered the victim when he opened the door for them. “They trussed up the victim with a piece of wire and fired two bullets at his face,” he added.

The IO said the police tracked down Hamza when the investigators went through the call history of the victim’s cellular phone.

SI Mazhar Iqbal said the police had not yet recovered any video tape from the victim’s apartment.

He said the father of the suspected killers, hailing from Khushab, was a transporter,

The IO said suspect Hamza was a BCom student and had struck an acquaintance with the victim to become a pop singer.