KHYBER: The capital city police officer has constituted a five-member team to investigate the murder of senior journalist Khalil Jibran in the Landi Kotal tehsil here on June 18.

Led by district police officer Saleem Abbas Kulachi, the team comprises superintendent of police of counter-terrorism department in the district Shaukat Khan, SP (investigation) Roohul Amin Khan, inspector Abid Afridi and sub-inspector Sultan Raza Khan.

The CCPO directed it to “make all-out efforts to trace and arrest” the killers of Mr Jibran, according to officials.

Gunmen intercepted the journalist and three people accompanying him including lawyer Sajjad Khan in the Mazreena area as they’re returning from dinner in a car. They dragged him out and fired gunshots at him after a brief scuffle.

Police and hospital employees said the lawyer, who received a bullet injury in one arm, was treated at the district headquarters hospital but he refused to cooperate with investigators and even denied his presence at the scene of the crime.

The police insisted that the lawyer’s reluctance to record the statement was badly affecting the investigation as they struggled to find any clue about those behind the murder and their motive.

They insisted that the investigation would proceed only if the injured person spoke about the attack.

The police said the others accompanying Mr Jibran would also be quizzed.

The attackers reportedly checked CNICs of all those travelling in the car before pulling Mr Jibran out.

Local journalists and civil society activists have demanded an FIR against the lawyer over his refusal to cooperate with investigators.

Meanwhile, official sources told Dawn that the law-enforcement agencies had conducted at least four intelligence-based operations in Mazreena area prior to the murder of Mr Jibran but couldn’t hunt down any suspected militant in the hilly terrain.

Officials of the law-enforcement agencies argued that while they were accused of lethargy in tracking down any suspected militant in Mazreena area during the protest at the time of Mr Jibran’s funeral, the same people demonstrated after they conducted raids in Mazreena with the law-enforcement agencies accused of violating the local customs and traditions.

Meanwhile, the local journalists on Friday demonstrated at the Bab-i-Khyber in Jamrud tehsil in connection with the call for protests across the merged tribal districts against the murder of Mr Jibran.

They demanded a judicial probe into the murder and immediate arrest of culprits.

Holding placards and banners, the protesters marched from outside the Jamrud Press Club to the Bab-i-Khyber, where the speakers complained about the law-enforcement agencies’ failure to protect journalists and arrest those involved in attacks against them.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2024