DADU: An investigation team constituted by Sindh IGP A.D. Khowaja to probe the murder case of Tania Khaskheli recorded statements of the aggrieved family and eyewitnesses in Jhangara-Bajara town near Sehwan, 48 kilometres from here, on Friday while police nabbed four facilitators in the crime in Kotri.

The area’s landlord, Khan Mohammad Nohani, along with his henchmen, allegedly barged into the house of Tania, a student of class-X, on Sept 9 and shot her dead after the girl and her family turned down his marriage proposal, according to media reports.

Two members of the three-member team, Inspector Siraj Ahmed Lashari and Inspector Rana Shafiq Ahmed inspected the crime scene, collected evidence and recorded statements of family members Ghulam Qadir Khaskheli (father), Khurshid Begum (mother), Eman, Nadia and Mahak (sisters) and other eyewitnesses.

The team, whose head was additional IGP Aftab Pathan, also checked the roster at Jhangara-Bajara police station and the first report of the crime as it was written in it. The town’s police had failed to arrest three major suspects in the girl’s murder case.

Jhangara-Bajara SHO Mazhar Naich said that two main suspects Maula Bux and Khan Nohani had already been arrested while police were conducting raids to nab the remaining ones.

Late Tania’s mother Khurshid Begum told Dawn that the family was continuously receiving threats from the suspects and they were threatening them to leave the town or get killed. She was feeling unsafe and needed more protection, she said.

Sehwan ASP Dr Sami Malik said that police had already provided protection to the victim family as it was now their responsibility. Police conducted more raids on a number of places to arrest more suspects in the light of new information gleaned from the arrested suspects and other sources, he said.

Kotri police raided Chhandan Wah near Matiari town and succeeded to arrest four suspects identified as Nazeer Ahmed Solangi, Nadeem Shaikh, Baqir Shaikh and Nadir Nohani of Sehwan who were stated to be facilitators in the Tania murder case. They had escaped to Chhandan Wah after the girl’s murder, said police.

Jamshoro SSP Irfan Bahdur said the investigation was moving ahead at satisfactory pace as police had succeeded in arresting the main suspects while the remaining ones too would be held within no time.

He said that police would never show leniency to any influential suspect wanted in the case and arrest him sooner or later. The suspects nabbed by Kotri police were being interrogated, he said.

Sindhiani Tehreek central leader Husna Rahoojo along with a delegation of her party leaders, PML-N MNA Marvi Memon and MPA Soorath Thebo and PPP MPA Saeed Ghani offered condolences to late Tania’s father and assured him of their support.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2017