Siraj Talpur, 3 other Shahzeb murder suspects held

KARACHI: In a dramatic development, police Saturday nabbed four persons, including Siraj Talpur, the prime suspect in Shahzeb Khan murder case, Geo News reported.

According to sources Siraj along with this brother Sajjad Talpur was collared in Moro, Sindh.

The murder case, which the police have tried their best to sweep under the carpet made headlines before Supreme Court of Pakistan stepped in taking a suo moto action. Supreme Court had ordered the police to show results within 24 hours which they did with these arrests.

Shahzeb's murder had become the talk of the social media, which by all the means could be given the credit for turning this faintly muffled whisper of a case into an uproar incurring an outburst that led to the arrest of Siraj Talpur.

Since then police changed sides and swung into action conducting raids here and there to nail the suspects who come from powerful families.
Police finally struck Siraj, Imdad, Sajjad, and Ghulam Murtuza, after conducting a series of raids in Hyderabad and Sukkur.

Shahrukh Jatoi, another suspect is still at large and is reported to have escaped to Dubai.

Earlier, lawmen taking action in Khayban-e-Badr Defence area held two suspects recovering a car, allegedly used in Shahzeb’s murder.

The vehicle, with a license plate reading “Moro V” was traced back to one Asif Loond, who police believe was also present on the crime scene by the time Shahzeb was killed in cold blood.

The 20-year-old student was fatally shot in his car near Mubarak Masjid in Phase V of the Defence House Authority on December 25 allegedly by Shahrukh Jatoi, son of Sikandar Jatoi, and Nawab Siraj Talpur soon after he had stopped Jatoi’s servant from teasing his sister. The two siblings had been returning home from the Valima ceremony of their sister.

After the incident, both suspects fled to Sukkur and went into hiding to escape arrests. Later, Sikandar Jatoi reportedly told media his son had already gone to Australia.

The grief-stricken father said that in the first few days after the incident, the police had practically been ignoring the case, but when the civil society and the media took up the issue, bringing it to the notice of the Supreme Court, the police became a lot more active and were working on the case.

“Initially, the pressure from some powerful quarters was evident, but ever since the suo moto action taken by the chief justice, the police have taken up the case in the real sense.”

Khan further said that the murder of his son was not an aberration, but one of the many symptoms of what he called the “ the law of the jungle” that unfortunately existed in an urban city like Karachi, and that it “has to end by all means”.

“My son’s murder is not only about us; it’s about all the poor and middle class families living in the city. I am glad of the way people have held our hands in the time of such grief, and I sincerely hope that the judgment of the courts will teach a lesson and sow fear of law in the hearts of those who consider themselves above the book,” he said.

The police official denied being pressurised by the family of one of the two main accused to reach a compromise. He vowed that he would pursue the killers of his son until justice was done.

“Shahzeb’s case is open to the public; there is nothing hidden from the people’s eyes. I am not being contacted by any person for a compromise or anything and I don’t want to be contacted in this regard,” he said.