KARACHI: Family of 19-year-old Jazlan Faisal, who was murdered by four accused, including three brothers, over a trivial issue inside Bahria Town Karachi, on Wednesday demanded that the murder probe be conducted by a joint investigation team (JIT).

Jazlan’s grandfather Sabir Ali Khan in his application sent to the home department requested the formation of a JIT stating that the perpetrators of the heinous crime were “highly influential both politically and money wise”, which was affecting the real inquiry by the police.

The accused were well-known for ‘different crimes’ and various FIRs have been registered against them from which they got away with somehow, claimed the grandfather.

He said that the list of alleged crimes including land-grabbing, drugs and water theft and selling the commodity in the city.

One of the suspects, Ahsan Faiz, who allegedly fired at Jazlan as per his arrested brother, Hasnain Faiz, was “still on the run” and was being “protected by a political party leader”.

The 9mm pistol as per statement of the accused Hasnain belonged to their father, which has not been recovered yet.

He said another held suspect, Inshal Waseem, was handed over to the police by his father and on June 4, he was willing to become an ‘approver’ but in one day, he was ‘pressured’ to accept the crime single-handedly by the family of Faiz Mohammed.

“Prima facia, he (Inshal) confessed to the crime under duress,” claimed the applicant.

The family also said that “witnesses have been threatened and are gone into hiding, and without a JIT, their presence is not possible, which will hamper the justice”.

The grandfather also urged the home department to provide protection to suspect Inshal, the family of Jazlan and the witnesses.

Sources said that the home department had sent the application to Karachi police chief Javed Akhtar Odho to provide necessary assistance in the ongoing investigation.

Separately, the city police chief, under a relevant section of the police law, has constituted a board to “deliberate on the investigation”, determine the role of the investigating officer and give recommendations within seven days.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2022