Police announce arrest of journalist’s killer at Balochistan border

The Karachi police have claimed that they arrested a key suspect involved in the killing of Athar Mateen, a journalist working for a private television channel who was recently gunned down by muggers.

A statement issued by the Karachi police on Saturday night read that the suspect had confessed to the crime. He reportedly told investigators that he killed the journalist along with his accomplice during a robbery bid.

An FIR No. 87/22 was registered at the North Nazimabad police station against unidentified suspects.

The statement read that a special police team headed by Zone West DIG Nasir Aftab was formed by Karachi Additional IG Ghulam Nabi Memon to investigate the case.

The police team, with the help of CCTV footage and other technical resources, arrested the key suspect identified as Muhammad Ashraf at the Balochistan border in the Manghopir area.

The police said they were looking for arresting his accomplice who is still at large.

Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Maher announced a Rs2 million reward for the police team that participated in the arrest and stated that the names of the team members would also be recommended for the PPM police medal.

According to the statement, the suspect was a habitual criminal and several cases had been registered against him, including those pertaining to firing on the police at different police stations, including Bahadurabad, New Town, Brigade and Surjani Town.

Some reports, however, also claimed that the suspect was taken into custody in Khuzdar, Balochistan, a few days ago. He was also said to be arrested in the past but later released on bail. Further investigations are under way.

Mateen was shot dead on February 18 on a main thoroughfare in North Nazimabad while he was on his way back home after dropping his children to school. According to the police, Mateen was driving a car when he tried to foil a robbery bid after seeing armed motorcyclists robbing a citizen.

The journalist rammed his car into their motorcycle, after which one of the motorcyclists opened fire on him.

The assailant fired three shots, but Mateen suffered only one bullet injury which killed him on the spot. Since then, civil society activists and journalist bodies have been staging protests against the lawlessness in the metropolis and demanding the arrest of the killers.

The killing was countrywide condemned. Not only the Sindh governor and chief minister but also the federal interior minister issued statements to express their grief. The CM also later visited the house of the slain journalist and assured the family that his killers would be soon arrested and handed down strict punishment.