RAWALPINDI: Additional Sessions Judge Sohail Nasir on Thursday ordered the immediate arrest of former PML-N lawmaker Chaudhry Tanveer in a murder case while extending the pre-arrest bail of other suspects.

Chaudhry Tavneer along with MNA Daniyal Chaudhry, Changez Khan, and Osama Chaudhry had been nominated in an FIR regarding the murder of independent candidate Chaudhry Adnan earlier this year.

During the hearing in which the judge ordered the arrest of the PML-N leader after the cancellation of his bail plea, a heavy contingent of police was deployed on the premises of the district courts. However, the judge extended the pre-arrest bail of Daniyal Ch, Changez Khan, and Osama Chaudhry against surety bonds worth Rs 200,000 each. The decision had been reserved earlier this week and postponed twice by the judge before it was announced on Thursday.

Ch Adnan gunned down

Chaudhry Muhammad Adnan, 48, an independent candidate in the Feb 8 elections, was killed by unidentified motorcycle riders outside the Police Lines Headquarters in early February this year. The murder occurred in the Civil Lines area, which has already been declared as the ‘red zone’ in the garrison city. After the registration of the FIR by Chaudhry Nadeem Iqbal, brother-in-law of the deceased, the police launched an investigation to arrest the culprits.

Judge approves pre-arrest bail of other suspects

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 wearing ‘shalwar kameez’ came close to the driving seat of Ch Adnan’s vehicle and started firing at him.

The FIR said that Adnan was hit in the neck, face, and other body parts while 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 ex-MPA, the Civil Lines police booked Chaudhry Tanveer, Daniyal Chaudhry, and Changez Khan 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” and that Ch Adnan often used say that “if any harm was done to him, these people would be responsible”.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2024