KOHAT: Police claimed on Wednesday to have solved last week’s murder of a local journalist, holding a family dispute responsible for the crime.

Hafeezur Rehman, the chief editor of weekly Nawa-i-Asia, correspondent of Neo news channel and president of cable TV network owners association, was shot dead in Kalo Khan Banda here on Sunday.

Officials said that a ‘hired assassin’ and a brother of Mr Rehman had been arrested. Speaking at a press conference in his office on Wednesday, District Police Officer (DPO) Mohammad Sohaeb Ashraf said it transpired during the investigation that Mr Rehman had been killed by his brother Asim Naeem in collusion with three hired assassins.

Also read: Gunmen kill TV journalist in Kohat

The DPO said that police were able to solve the case and identify the culprit through cellular forensic of the suspects.

One of Naeem’s accomplices, Muhtaram, has been picked up and efforts are under way to find the remaining two suspects, police said.

The motorcycle used in the crime has been found.

The DPO said that the suspects had been trying to eliminate Mr Rehman for five months, adding that they had once attempted to poison the journalist.

He said that after the failure of poison attempt Naeem hired the services of assailants for Rs600,000.

Naeem stated before the journalists that he had hatched the plot because his brother had unfairly distributed inherited wealth and deprived him of his share in the family fortune.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2015