KARACHI, Aug 7 A probe into the murder of Balochistan Excise and Taxation Minister Sardar Rustam Khan Jamali got under way on Friday as police obtained records from the vehicle tracking company and the cellphone service provider in a bid to ascertain the legislator's movement ahead of his Thursday evening killing.

Initially, the police seemed to be divided on the motive behind the killing, as a senior police officer described the incident as “an aborted attempted carjacking”, while the area's station house officer termed it a “targeted killing”.

Investigators told Dawn that the investigation team constituted by the city police chief, headed by the DIG East and comprising the SSP SIU, SP of the Shah Faisal Town police station and the SSP of Investigation I Zone East, is looking at various aspects of the case and is conducting investigations from different angles.

Possible motives under review include an attempted car snatching, enmity back in Jaffarabad, a land dispute in Karachi and certain issues related to Mr Jamali's activities in Balochistan.

A senior police officer told Dawn that it is not clear as to what the minister was doing in the Gulistan-i-Jauhar area without his personal gunmen, since ministers do not generally move without their personal and official guards. Further, these guards always accompany ministers whenever they visit Karachi by road.

The minister had been staying in Muhammad Ali Society for the past two days, since he arrived in the city.

'Eyewitnesses have provided clues'

Police have also prepared sketches of suspects with the assistance of some eyewitnesses who are believed to have provided some useful information. Investigators, however, have declined to share the information.

Similarly, the police have also collected fingerprints from the vehicle and also sought the assistance of Nadra in an attempt to identify the suspects in case they had boarded the vehicle, said investigators.

The incident occurred in front of the Rado Apartments, where the victim's vehicle had been reportedly parked for some time.

The registration number of the vehicle which was used in the incident, a Suzuki Cultus, was apparently noted down by eyewitnesses, but the car with the noted down registration number is not reported to have been snatched or stolen.

In fact, police have questioned the owner of the car. Investigators said that there could be two possibilities either the eyewitnesses made a mistake in noting down the registration number or the suspects could have used a fake registration plate.

A number of close relatives of Sardar Rustam Khan Jamali have also been interviewed by the investigators.

Investigators seemed confused as to why the suspects killed the minister after taking him out of the vehicle, when instead they could have killed him within the vehicle itself.

Similarly, if it was a carjacking attempt, why the suspects did not keep the minister in the car, as they could easily have dropped him off at a desolate place, as is usually done in snatching cases of tracker-fitted vehicles.

Moreover, most carjackings are only carried out by two or three people, while in this case police said that five suspects took part. A car and one or two motorcycles were used in the hit, investigators said.

Hospital and police sources confirm that the minister suffered three bullet wounds one in his face and two in his chest, while one bullet struck just above the rear wheel of the driver's side of the minister's vehicle.

As the incident took place just a few yards away from the Darul Sehat Hospital, the minister was first rushed to the hospital and was later shifted to the Aga Khan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police have registered an FIR (571/2009) on the complaint of the victim's maternal uncle at the Sharea Faisal police station on Thursday night.