MULTAN: Multan police were finding it tough to further their probe into the assassination of senior lawyer and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s special task force coordinator Rashid Rehman Khan even a month after the incident.

Mr Rehman was gunned down on May 7 by unidentified men.

A source said Multan police were just going through the motions of sending reports to their seniors regarding their so-called findings while actually doing nothing towards arresting the culprits.

The provincial government has so far suspended two officers from service in connection with the assassination.

First, Chehliyak police Station House Officer Abbas Gill was suspended from service for failing to protect Mr Rehman despite the fact that late rights activist himself as well as the HRCP had informed the police in writing about the threats being received by him.

Another suspension came about a week ago when on the report of Chief Minister’s Inspection Team, SSP (Operations) Shaukat Abbas was suspended from service for showing negligence and lack of response with regard to the directions of the inspector general of Punjab police to take measures for the senior lawyer’s security.

A police official on the condition of anonymity told Dawn the case of Mr Rehman had become a hard nut to crack for the police. On the one hand, the police were ‘unable’ to further the probe while on the other they were being asked to submit reports on the case.

So they have decided to go the ‘middle’ way and every time they are asked they submit the same report with some amendments.

He said it was simply not possible for the police to continue investigations and interrogate those who had threatened Mr Rehman before a judge.

He said although the police had got prepared the sketches of the two suspects in the lawyer’s killing they were not ready to make them public as any arrest in connection with the case could result in strong protest by some circles. Mr Rehman was appearing as the lawyer of Junaid Hafeez, a Bahauddin Zakariya University faculty member accused of blasphemy. SHO Saeed Gujjar said the investigation in the Hafeez case was “in progress” and saying anything about it would be “premature” at this moment.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2014