LAHORE: Former additional advocate general Shahbaz Tatla’s family while keeping in view the circumstantial evidence and confessional statement, decided to offer his Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza at their village tomorrow at 3pm after Friday prayers, who was allegedly killed by SSP Mufakhar Adeel on February 7. Meanwhile, SSP Mufakhar is now on a five-day physical remand.
DIG Investigation Inam Waheed said police have yet to recover Tatla’s body. He confirmed that Tatla’s ‘Ghaibana’ funeral prayers will be offered tomorrow. Victim’s brothers will be present at village Rana (near Maddokahalwan) Narowal for the next three days to accept condolences.
SSP Mufakhar Adeel’s close friend and former additional advocate general Shahbaz Ahmad Tatla had gone missing on February 7, 2020. SSP Adeel and Tatla were seen together at social gatherings. Both of them belonged to Narowal. The case of his abduction was lodged by his brother at Naseerabad Police Station.
After four days of Tatla’s missing, SSP Adeel left his house in Nawab Town on an official vehicle on February 11 saying he was going to investigate an important case. As he did not contact his family and friends until the next day, his wife reported about his missing. After searching for Adeel for several hours, police found his locked official vehicle near Faisal Town market.
Police obtained their mobile phone data which indicated that they were involved in dubious activities. SSP and Tatla were also running an academy for CSS exams preparation at Kalma Chowk, Ferozepur Road. They had rented a furnished house for Rs70,000 in Faisal Town for 10 days, telling its owner that a delegation from abroad would live there. However, dance parties were arranged in the house.
As the investigation progressed, police took their mutual friend Asad Bhatti into custody, who claimed that Adeel had killed Tatla in the rented house in Faisal Town and dissolved his body in a drum containing acid. An employee Irfan had helped in bringing the drum and acid. Official water bowser was used to wash the evidence. He alleged that the officers had thrown Tatla’s remains in Rohi Drain by transporting it on an official vehicle.
After Bhatti’s statement, police obtained footage of the movement of the official vehicle with the help of the Safe City Authority’s cameras. A CIA investigation team also obtained samples from the Rohi Drain near the location pointed out by the witness to find evidence about the body. Irfan also went missing when Adeel disappeared but police traced him. He reportedly confessed only to having brought the acid and drum.
Security agencies arrested the SSP, who had gone missing since the disappearance of Shahbaz Tatla, from Pak-Iran border under mysterious circumstance and handed him over to Lahore police on March 10.
In his initial statement, Adeel confessed that he had planned the murder of Tatla because he was threatening to assault his wife after having raped his former spouse in 2012.
