PESHAWAR: Bullet-riddled body of a 28-year-old Sikh man was found in the limits of Chamkani police station in the suburbs of Peshawar on Sunday. He was identified as Pervinder Singh of Chakesar village in Shangla district.

A police official told Dawn that body of an unidentified man was found wrapped in a blanket along a roadside in Chamkani.

The body was identified from the documents recovered from his pockets. He said the body carried a bullet wound in the head. He said it seemed that the man had been killed somewhere else and his body was dumped along a road in the jurisdiction of Chamkani police station.

“We have registered a case against the unidentified killers and investigation is underway,” the official said and added the body had been handed over to the family of the victim.

Harmeet Singh, a journalist and elder brother of the deceased, told mediapersons that his family had no enmity with anyone.

“My brother had recently returned from Malaysia and came from his village to Peshawar in connection with preparations of his marriage scheduled for February,” he said with tears rolling down his cheeks. He said police had registered FIR against unknown killers as usual.

The family members placed the body outside the Peshawar Press Club for some time and held a demonstration against the cold-blooded murder. Shouting slogans against the murderers, the protesters demanded of the provincial government to take prompt action for arrest of the accused and awarding them punishment as per the law.

On the occasion, Mudassar Shah, a friend of the deceased, said that the killers had used the victim’s cell phone to inform his brother about his murder and then took away the phone set also.

“He may have some monetary issues with the people in Peshawar, but he did not share details with his family,” he said and added that his phone record might help police in the investigation and arrest of the killers.

Meanwhile, our Shangla correspondent adds that people from Sikh community and Muslims strongly condemned the brutal killing of the Sikh youth and demanded of the provincial government to arrest the killers.

The locals expressed condolences with the bereaved family when the body was brought to Chakesar.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2020