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LAHORE, Aug 5: A joint team has concluded interrogation of the fifth accused arrested in the kidnapping-cum-murder case of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Carrying a head money of Rs1 million, Hashim Qadeer, a suspected member of the banned Jaish-i-Mohammad and Harkatul Mujahideen, was picked up by police and intelligence agents from a bus terminal in Gujranwala last week. He was allegedly responsible for arranging a meeting between the reporter and a main accused of the case, Ahmad Omar Sheikh, at a hotel in Rawalpindi. Pearl was kidnapped on Jan 23, 2002, and was later beheaded.
“Law enforcement agencies have completed interrogation of Qadeer,” Gujranwala police chief DIG Zafar Abbas Lak told Dawn by phone.
He said that the Punjab government had been informed about the conclusion of the investigation. He said the accused would be handed over to the Karachi police in a day or two.
Sources said that some important information had been gleaned from Hashim that could lead law enforcers to his other accomplices. “Raids are being conducted in the light of the interrogation,” sources said.
British-born Ahmad Omar Sheikh of Pakistani descent has already been awarded capital punishment while three more accused are undergoing life imprisonment in the case.
YOUTHS HELD: Police on Friday arrested 34 youngsters for showing tricks and impounded their motorcycles in various parts of the city.
The police said that the action was initiated on orders of Lahore operations police chief Amir Zulfikar who had directed all divisional SPs to impound motorcyclists and initiate criminal proceedings against them.
“These motorcyclists have become a consistent nuisance. They disturb the smooth flow of traffic and cause accidents.”
Most of the 34 youngsters were held in the Defence Housing Society and areas falling in the cantonment.
