An accused nominated in the triple murder of a PPP office bearer and his sons was arrested in the Mehar town of Dadu district on Thursday, while two others, a PPP MPA and his brother, were granted bail by the Sindh High Court (SHC).

Sikandar Chandio — one of the seven people nominated in the first information report (FIR) for the murder of Raees Karamullah Chandio and his sons Mukhtar Ahmed Chandio and Qabil Chandio — was apprehended while travelling on a motorcycle in Mehar along with two other people. However, the two other persons managed to escape.

Dadu police recovered a rifle from the possession of the accused and have handed his custody to Hyderabad police, who are investigating the case, Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Dadu Qamar Raza Jiskani said.

Later in the evening, MPA Nawab Sardar Ahmed Chandio and his brother Nawab Burhan Khan Chandio appeared before SSP Hyderabad Syed Pir Mohammad Shah and handed over copy of their pre-arrest bails.

Inspector General (IG) Sindh A.D. Khowaja has transferred the investigation of triple murders case from Dadu SSP to Hyderabad SSP, who visited the spot of the incident along with his team, recorded statements of complainants, witnesses, local people and two officials of Mehar police station earlier this week.

Karamullah and his sons were killed on January 17 in an armed attack in Ahmed colony, close to the deputy superintendent of police's office and a local police station. Both Karamullah and Qabil belonged to the PPP.

Pervaiz Ahmed Chandio, Karamullah's son, had filed the FIR for the incident nominating PPP lawmaker and Chandio tribe chief Nawab Sardar Ahmed Chandio, his younger brother and former provincial adviser Nawab Burhan Khan Chandio, Murtza Chandio, Ali Gohar Chandio, Sikandar Chandio, Zulifiqar Chandio and Ghulam Qadir alias Qadoo, who was also killed in the attack.

Relatives of the deceased and civil society activists have been protesting against alleged police inaction since the day of the murder.

Earlier this week, Mukhtiar's son had demanded the arrest of the individuals involved and claimed the police was not acting because the culprits were powerful. In a video message, he had also asked PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, IG Sindh and the Sindh High Court (SHC) chief justice to take notice of the matter.