CHARSADDA: Two young men belonging to Peshawar drowned in the Swat River in Munda here on Sunday.

Body of one of them was fished out from river while search for the other was under way. Shakeel, 22, and Qadeem, 26, hailing from Pir Bala area of Peshawar had come to Munda for picnic. They were taking bath in the river despite imposition of Section 144.

The gushing water swept them away. Local divers fished out body of Shakeel and search for the body of Qadeem was under way.

Meanwhile, unidentified motorcyclists shot dead Shehzad Zahir while his father Zahir Shah narrowly escaped.

Zahir Shah told police that he and his son were waiting at a bus stop when the attackers opened firing on them. He said that they had no enmity with anyone. Police registered a case against unidentified assailants and started investigation.

Also, police solved the blind murder case of senior journalist Iftikhar Ahmed.

Police arrested a helper in his shop and he confessed to his crime. Police said that Iftikhar was killed by Saifullah, a daily wager at his medicines-cum-cosmetic shop. They said that Saifulah, who was wearing mask and black cap, turned off all the CCTV cameras of the basement of Shakir Market and used silencer-fixed pistol in the crime on July 2, 2022.

Police said that the accused killed the journalist just after exchange of hot words with him. The accused managed to escape after the incident. Police also recovered the pistol used in the crime from the possession of the accused.

The motive behind the killing was yet to be ascertained. However, the accused confessed to his crime.

After protests by journalists, the IGP took notice of the incident and directed Mardan RPO Yasin Farooq and Charsadda DPO Sohail Khalid to arrest the killers as soon as possible.

The DPO formed a team, which after thorough investigation succeeded to solve the case.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2022