KARACHI: The police team tasked with probing into the murder of Nazim Jokhio — who made a video of some foreign hunters which resulted in confrontation upon which he was allegedly tortured to death — has decided to question officials of the provincial wildlife department who had witnessed the victim filming the hunters, a top-ranking official said on Tuesday.

The move came a few days after DIG-East Saqib Ismail Memon constituted an eight-member team to probe into the killing of the young Jokhio, who was found tortured to death in a Malir farmhouse last week.

The official said that the police team was making progress while probing into the case and was expected to come up with initial findings within the stipulated time of two weeks.

“They [wildlife department officials] are not seen as suspects but definitely as witnesses or I should say eyewitnesses, who were present at the scene where it all had begun,” he said.

“They were along with foreigners when Nazim had intercepted them and tried to make their video. They know what really had happened and what motivated the victim to film that particular episode. The police team would gather details and then interview them one by one separately,” he said.

Foreigners not part of probe

The officer ruled out any possibility of making the foreign hunters a part of the investigation. He said that they were here on permission granted by the federal and provincial governments and it was out of the police purview to expand its investigation to any other country or its nationals.

Meanwhile, Karachi police chief Imran Yaqoob Minhas denied offering any ‘protocol’ to main suspect and Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Jam Awais in police custody.

He said the lawmaker was being treated solely as a murder suspect and he had been locked up in a police facility.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf kept building pressure on the ruling PPP and it once again highlighted that a federal government-led joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the Jokhio murder case would be made very soon.

Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh said two JITs were about to be set up after Prime Minister Imran Khan had given his approval.

Besides a JIT to probe the Jokhio murder case, Mr Sheikh said that the federal government had also approved a JIT to investigate the killing of Fehmida Sial, who was shot dead allegedly by Shaheed Hussain Isran, father of PPP MPA Ghanwar Khan.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has issued directives for setting up JITs to investigate the brutal killings of Nazim Jokhio and Fehmida Sial,” tweeted Mr Sheikh. “The PM has made the crucial decision after the Sindh governor briefed him about the details. The feudalism of the PPP government in Sindh and turning the province into a police state will not be tolerated anymore.”

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2021