RAWALPINDI: Former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senator Chaudhry Tanveer, MNA-elected Daniyal Chaudhry, Osama Tanveer and Changez Khan, who were booked by Civil Line police in the former MPA Chaudhry Adnan murder case, visited the Civil Lines police station on Thursday night and recorded their statements, denying their involvement in the case.

All the accused who had already obtained pre-arrest bails appeared before the court of Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Rana Sohail on Friday who extended their pre-arrest bails till May 30.

Chaudhry Mohammad Adnan, 48, an independent candidate in the Feb 8 elections, was killed by unidentified motorcycle riders outside the Police Lines Headquarters. The murder occurred in the Civil Lines area, which has already been declared a Red Zone in the garrison city.

After registration of the FIR by Chaudhry Nadeem Iqbal, brother-in-law of the deceased, the police launched an investigation to arrest the culprits. According to the complainant, his brother-in-law, Chaudhry Adnan, was on his way to his residence in Jhanda Chichi in a black SUV with his aides, after negotiating a land issue at a housing society office. His vehicle was also accompanied by another car.

When the vehicles stopped at the traffic light near Jinnah Park, two unidentified persons came close to the driving seat of Chaudhry Adnan’s vehicle and started firing at him.

The FIR said Adnan was hit in the neck, face and other parts of the body. The assailants sped off on their motorcycle which was parked across the road. Chaudhry Adnan lost his life while being shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital by the emergency service staff of Rescue 1122.

A day after the murder of the former MPA, Civil Lines police booked Chaudhry Tanveer, MNA-elect Daniyal Chaudhry and Changez Khan on the complaint of the deceased’s in-laws for their alleged involvement in the killing of the ex-lawmaker.

According to the FIR, “Chaudhry Adnan had a political rivalry with…Chaudhry Tanveer Khan, Chaudhry Changez Khan, Daniyal Chaudhry and Osama Tanveer; whereas a case related to some property matter was in the court of law against Luqman Kamil.”

It further said Adnan often used to say that “he feared for his life and if any harm was done to him, these people would be responsible”.

Police investigating the murder had also placed the names of four suspects on the Provincial National Identification List (PNIL) toprevent them from leaving the country.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024