NAIROBI: The two-member Pakistani inquiry team formed for the investigation of slain journalist Arshad Shareef’s case in Kenya have disclosed some new details after interviewing the slain journalist’s hosts.
The preliminary investigation has raised questions over the role of the driver — Khurram Ahmed — and his brother — Waqar Ahmed. The team raised questions, especially regarding the part where one of them miraculously dodges the Kenyan police bullets to reach the farmhouse safely with Sharif, who was killed by shots to his head and chest.
The government team closely examined the bullet-riddled car Sharif was travelling in, the crime scene, the dinner spot, and the farmhouse where the journalist was allegedly staying.
At the same time, the whole incident was also reenacted in light of the investigation.
The farmhouse is 22 kilometres from the crime scene and is accessible mostly through a dirt road (trail).
According to a briefing given to the Pakistani investigators, the lodge where Sharif reportedly had dinner had no CCTV cameras, while the place was powered by generators or other sources.
The Kenyan authorities also provided details to the Pakistani team.
The Pakistani sleuths also thoroughly interrogated Khurram, who was driving Sharif to Nairobi at the time of the shooting.
Khurram told the investigators the firing panicked him and the next thing he did was call his brother Waqar Ahmed.
“I noticed I was being trailed even after the shooting, so I drove even faster,” Khurram told the investigators. “Waqar told me to head straight to the farmhouse,” Khurram said.
Waqar, in his statement, told the police that he learnt about the firing after Khurram called him.
“I also made a beeline for the farmhouse and reported the incident to the Kenyan and Pakistani authorities on the way.” He added that when he reached the farmhouse he found Sharif’s body in the car.
“At that time, the police were not suspected of shooting at the car,” Waqar said, adding, “Kenyan law enforcement agents reached the farmhouse later and gathered the evidence and other details”.
Sharif was shot dead by the Kenyan police last week in a “mistaken identity” case while he was travelling to Nairobi.
The slain journalist’s body was flown to Pakistan from Kenya in the early hours of Wednesday. Members of his family received his body at the Islamabad airport.
In Kenya, the country's police, in its first report, admitted to killing him. The Kenyan police said that Sharif was shot dead in a mistaken identity case.
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