RAWALPINDI, Oct 7: The white Pajero jeep used in the assassination of Maulana Azam Tariq and his four associates on Monday was allegedly hijacked from Sadiqabad, Rawalpindi, on September 10, official sources close to the investigation said.

The vehicle, which the police said had vanished from the scene after the attack on the Maulana’s car in Golra, was found abandoned at sector I-8 late Monday night.

The original owner of the vehicle, Chaudhry Bakheesh Ahmed, a resident of Tarnol, had lodged an FIR with the Sadiqabad police, saying that as he was getting into his jeep (No GLTA-5249), three unidentified men rushed towards him, held him at gunpoint, snatched the keys of the vehicle and drove it away.

Meanwhile, SSP Islamabad Shahid Nadeem Baloch, who had been in Dubai for the last one week, cut short his official visit and returned to the capital on Tuesday.

In his absence, SP headquarters Taimur Ali Khan was serving as acting SSP.