RAWALPINDI: Local police have announced Rs700,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killers of senior judge Tahir Niazi and sought Federal Investigation Agency’s help in tracking them down using “geo-fencing” to get assistance in tracking down the culprits.

A source close to the police investigation “geo-fencing” would help locate the murderers by monitoring the cell phone they snatched from the wife of the slain district and session judge who was gunned down by unknown assailants in his house on Wednesday.

Geo-fencing is a feature in a software program that uses the Global Positioning System (GPS), or radio frequency identification (RFID) to define the location of a cell phone call.

At the same time, the source said, police investigators continue pursuing the case on different lines, “including possibility of old enmity”, and are examining the criminal cases which were under trial in the slain judge’s court.

“Yes, they have been questioning criminals released from jails and checking on those sentenced by the judge,” City Police Officer Israr Ahmed Abbasi confirmed to Dawn.

Though they rated the chances of it being a targeted killing as almost zero, he said the investigators were looking into the possibility of attempted robbery.

“I don’t see it that way,” said the CPO when reminded that Sajjad Khan Niazi, the brother of the slain judge, had stated in the FIR he registered with the police that his brother was targeted and killed.

CPO Abbasi said that artists tried to draw sketches of the culprits overnight but the attempt could not materialise for some reason.

Meanwhile, the police have announced the cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the murderers, assuring that the informer’s name would be kept secret.

“Anyone having information that could lead to the arrest of the culprits is invited to contact City Police Officer Israr Ahmed Khan Abbasi on 0307-8883800,” a police spokesman said.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2015

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