RAWALPINDI: Late Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Sami (JUI-S) leader Maulana Samiul Haq’s secretary Syed Ahmed Shah has been missing from his house in Akora Khattak for the last three or four days.

His family claims he was picked up by the law enforcement agencies while the police deny they have him in their custody.

Mr Shah is said to have discovered Maulana Samiul Haq’s body. The late JUI-S leader was stabbed in his bedroom in a Safari Villa in Bahria Town in Nov 2. Doctors said the former senator had died an hour before he was brought to the hospital.

Syed Ahmed Shah was also the first to inform Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, the son of Maulana Samiul Haq, of his father’s death.

Syed Ahmed Shah discovered Maulana Samiul Haq’s body, informed his son of his death

Maulana Hamid told Dawn Mr Shah has been missing the last three or four days. He said his family has been trying to call him on his mobile phone and that his phone has been switched off.

He said Mr Shah may have either gone into hiding himself or may have been taken by the law enforcement or intelligence agencies in connection with the investigation into the JUI-S leader’s murder.

“He has not been in contact with us the last couple of days,” Maulana Hamid said.

Maulana Hamid said it was the police’s job to find his father’s killers as the family had been cooperating with the police. He said the police had only visited Akora Khattak once but did not contact the family again with regards to the investigation in the case.

He said Syed Ahmed Shah was in Akora Khattak before he went missing and that he had repeated his initial statement where he said he left Maulana Samiul Haq at home and found him dead in his bed when he came back 15 or 20 minutes later. He said he had locked the door from outside and had found it open when he returned.

“No one has stopped the police from investigating Ahmed Shah or anyone else they wanted. We had no enmity with anyone but people from the outside or inside could be involved in the murder,” Maulana Hamid said.

“It is the police’s job to find the killers and bring them to justice,” he said.

He added that a few days before he was killed, an Afghan delegation had come to Maulana Samiul Haq, requesting him to initiate a peace process with the Taliban but he had refused.

Maulana Hamid said his father had been facing threats to his life but never kept the police or guards nearby as he did not have any personal enmity.

The Rawalpindi police have denied they have Syed Ahmed Shah in their custody.

However, the police investigation teams have been working on different lines and have questioned several individuals who were in contact with Maulana Samiul Haq on his phone.

According to senior police officials, Ahmed Shah is a key figure in the murder investigation as his statement could lead to the murderers and uncover the motive behind it.

The police have been waiting for the forensic laboratory report and DNA results to proceed in the investigations.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018