KARACHI: Police on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against 22 suspects, including two sitting lawmakers of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and their two foreign guests, in the Nazim Jokhio murder case, but did not assign their role in the commissioning of the alleged offence.

Victim’s brother Afzal Jokhio had nominated PPP MPA Jam Awais, his elder brother MNA Jam Abdul Karim, their servants and guards in the murder case of 27-year-old Nazim Jokhio, who earned the ire of influential for stopping their foreign guests from hunting houbara bustard.

On Tuesday, the investigating officer (IO) of the case filed an interim investigation report before Judicial Magistrate (Malir) Altaf Hussain.

The IO charge-sheeted MNA Jam Karim, his two foreign guests, Niaz Salar, Ahmed Shoro, Atta Muhammad and Zahim and five unknown guards showing them all as absconders. He also charge-sheeted six held suspects, including MPA Awais, his employees Mehar Ali, Haider Ali, Muhammad Meraj, Jamal Wahid and Abdul Razzaq.

In the report, the IO said the two lawmakers, victim’s relatives and other witnesses recorded their statements under Section 161 of the criminal procedure code.

He said he inspected the place where victim Nazim had allegedly quarrelled with the lawmakers’ foreign guests and uploaded a video on Facebook that went viral on social media.

He said he also inspected the MPA’s farmhouse and recovered a stab and a wooden sheet stained with the victim’s blood, who was allegedly tortured to death during captivity.

The suspects had burnt the victim’s clothes and cell phone and threw them in a well, but the same were recovered and sent to a laboratory for a forensic analysis.

He said the final reports of post-mortem, forensic analysis of DVR, victim’s mobile phone and a USB drive were still awaited.

He requested the court to take the interim charge sheet on record and grant 10-day time to submit the final report.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2021