ISLAMABAD: The family members of a man who was murdered in Jhelum over 11 years ago have reached the federal capital to seek justice.

On Thursday, the family members of Raja Arshad Mehmood along with some students blocked the Islamabad Expressway for almost half an hour demanding the government punish the killers.

Raja Azhar Mehmood, 75, the father of the deceased, told Dawn that on September 17, 2003, a car hit his son in Jhelum. “My son exchanged heated arguments with the people riding the car without knowing that they were police officials.”

He said the car riders took his son to the Dina police station and the next day informed the family that he had sustained injuries in a traffic accident and shifted to hospital.

“But when I reached the hospital, I was informed by the doctors that the body of my son had been brought to the hospital,” he said.

The people of the city held protests against the police after which an FIR was registered against the station house officer (SHO), Umer Hayat, and five other officials. “We tried our best but the suspects could not be arrested,” he said.

“On March 23, 2007, the then president, Pervez Musharraf, came to the Jhelum city to address a public gathering. My two daughters went to the gathering and in front of the media informed the president about the murder of their brother. Musharraf gave an assurance that the matter would be resolved, but later nothing happened,” he said.

“On July 13, 2008, during an open katcheri my daughters informed Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif about the killing of their brother but he also just gave assurances.”

After being disappointed, the family decided to hold a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court and Parliament House. On October 14, 2008, the then chief justice of Pakistan, Abdul Hameed Dogar, took suo motu notice of the incident and instructed the DPO Jhelum to arrest the suspects, he said.

“On the directives of the then chief justice, the police arrested the suspects and on May 5, 2009, a local court handed down death penalty on them. However, the suspects filed an appeal with the Rawalpindi High Court, he said.

“On May 30, 2012, while I along with my two daughters and a granddaughter was going back to Jhelum after a court hearing, the police kidnapped us. They kept us in a police station for the whole night and pressured us to withdraw the case.”

Mr Azhar said on September 21, 2014, two motorbike riders opened fire on him. “I was admitted to Pims for 10 days. I have been struggling to get justice for the last over 11 years. Now I have learnt that my case has been shifted from Rawalpindi to Lahore without informing me,” he said.

Mr Azhar appealed to the Supreme Court to again take a suo motu notice of the matter and provide him justice.

“Otherwise I will have no option but to set myself ablaze in front of the apex court. My daughters also want to do the same,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2015

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