SAHIWAL: The death of a policeman that was earlier reported as a suicide in village 2/EB of Pakpattan on the second day of Eidul Fitr on May 25 has turned out to be a murder.

Pakpattan Saddar police registered a murder first information report against Muhammad Ajmal and Muhammad Aslam, the brother and father of victim Akhtar Khan Baloch, on the complaint of his wife, Anam Akhtar.

Sources said since the incident, police remained clueless during the investigation, but on Sunday, one of the alleged killers confessed to the crime to some family members citing a burden on his conscience.

Akhtar Baloch was an assistant sub-inspector at the Police Lines in Pakpattan.

He had got married to Anam from Bahawalnagar and in an exchange marriage (watta satta), her brother was married to Akhtar’s sister Maria.

On May 24, Maria and her husband had a quarrel during which he allegedly tortured her.

This infuriated Akhtar’s brother Ajmal and father Aslam, who insisted Akhtar does the same with Anam, which he refused.

Later, Ajmal went to Bahawalnagar and brought his sister back. The same day, he had an altercation with his sister-in-law Anam and kicked her out of the house. Instead of going to her parents’ house, she chose to stay with some relatives in the village. That night, Akhtar had an argument with his father and brother for insulting his son and wife.

On the night of May 24, while Akhtar was sleeping in his room, Ajmal shot his brother dead with a police pistol and later claimed Akhtar had committed suicide.

In her complaint, Anam claimed Ajmal could not live with this crime and on May 31, he confessed to his crime in front of some family elders.

Saddar police arrested both Ajmal and his father.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2020