BAHAWALNAGAR: Police have solved the mystery behind the murder of a woman whose body was found stuffed in a gunny bag lying in a field and arrested a suspect .

District Police Officer Quddus Baig told Dawn that Irshad Joya had confessed to killing the woman with home he had long association.

The accused told police that on the day of the murder she came to his Dera (outhouse) and demanded some money. Upon his refusal, the woman tried to blackmail him. In anger, he choked her to death. He also confessed to raping her before killing her.

The DPO said that police had initially filed a report against unidentified suspects for murdering the woman as there was no clue. He constituted a team under sub-inspector Shahid Ayub which traced some suspects through mobile phone data of the victim.

He said when grilled Joya confessed to committing the crime.

Baig said on the instructions of Punjab police IG Shoaib Dastagir, he was hearing complainants of each murder case in the district and also seeking details from the accused. He said that case files were also being checked so that real culprits could be nabbed and tried.

He said that progress was being monitored in the murder cases registered in Bakhsh Khan police station, Ghamandpur, Shehr Fareed and Faqeerwali.

He said that the Bahawalnagar police was on track to achieve the policing targets. He said no one would be allowed to indulge in hooliganism, aerial firing and one-wheeling on New Year’s Eve and strict action would be taken against violators.

He said 1,200 police officials would perform security duties and 28 additional police pickets had been erected. He appealed to parents to keep any eye on their wards.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2019