KARACHI, May 25: The body of a 40-year-old man, who was brutally murdered and buried by a gravedigger friend, was dug out from a grave in a North Karachi cemetery on Wednesday, officials said.

The murderer, who had earlier been arrested, suspected that the victim had developed a relationship with his wife. He led the investigators to the shallow grave where he had buried the victim.

Police said the victim, Muhammad Ajmal, had been missing since May 14. His family suspected Habibullah to be behind his disappearance and informed the police about it.

“Both friends are the residents of Sector 7D-3 of New Karachi,” said DSP Altaf Hussain, the area’s supervisory police officer.

“Habibullah is a gravedigger by profession while Jamal worked as a construction worker. Jamal’s family said he last left home with Habibullah on the evening of May 14.”

The police picked up the suspect a couple of days ago and interrogated him during which he confessed that he had killed Jamal suspecting that he had illicit relationship with his wife.

“He also told the police that he had stabbed and slaughtered the victim before burying his body in a Christian graveyard, adjacent to the Shah Muhammad graveyard in North Karachi, where the suspect worked as a gravedigger,” said DSP Hussain.

The police accompanied by medico-legal officials unearthed the body from the grave on Wednesday morning and the doctors collected samples for autopsy and further examinations.

“We have collected samples for medico-legal examinations. There were multiple wounds of blunt metal on the body and deep cuts on the victim’s neck,” said police surgeon Dr Hamid Parihar, who headed the doctors’ team.

He said the victim had his own clothes and shoes on and the body was recognisable. It could take a week to compile a final report, he added.

The Sir Syed police station meanwhile incorporated Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code in the FIR (217/2011) against Habibullah, which was earlier lodged under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the PPC.