Names of PPP MNA, MPA omitted from charge sheet of Jokhio murder case

Police on Wednesday excluded the names of 13 accused, including Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Jam Abdul Karim and his brother MPA Jam Owais, from the charge sheet submitted before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the Nazim Jokhio murder case.

Filing the charge sheet before the administrative judge of the ATC, the investigation officer (IO) of the case did not include the names of Karim, Owais and 11 others on the list of the accused who had been included for the trial.

The IO included the Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in the case but named two persons, Haider Ali and Mir Ali, as the accused who were sent for trial while one accused Niaz Ali was shown as an absconder.

The other 11 accused excluded from the charge sheet included Mohammad Saleem, Dodo Khan, Mohammad Soomar, Abdul Razzak, Jamal Ahmed, Mohammad Miraj, Mohammad Khan, Mohammad Ishaque, Ahmed Khan, Atta Mohammad and Zahid Ali.

The IO filed the charge sheet under the sections 302, 201, 35 and 506 (B) read with the Section 7 of the ATA. The charge sheet was submitted after the Sindh High Court had directed the IO to do so after scrutiny from the prosecutor general office which was pending for the last couple of months.

Police had on January 26 submitted the initial charge sheet in the Nazim Jokhio murder case before a judicial magistrate in District Malir against MPA Owais and four other arrested persons and declared MNA Karim and four others as absconders.

The magistrate however refused to accept the charge sheet on February 8 and directed the investigation officer to submit it before an ATC, saying the case was fit to be triable before the special court for anti-terrorism.

The police investigation had said that the reason behind Jokhio’s killing was his action of uploading a video of his clash with foreigners who were hunting houbara bustard in his village. Police had submitted that Jokhio was tortured in the Jam house by MNA Karim and later his brother Owais and his guards Mir Ali and Hyder Ali for uploading the video of foreign hunters.

Nazim Jokhio’s tortured body was found at the Jam House said to be owned by Owais in Jam Goth on November 3, 2021. Jokhio’s brother lodged a case against MPA Owais, his younger brother MNA Karim and others for being involved in the murder of his 27-year-old brother.

According to the police, Jokhio was tortured to death for reportedly trying to prevent the lawmaker’s guests from hunting houbara bustard in Thatta district. Karim who fled the country after the case, recently returned to cast vote against in the National Assembly in the no-trust motion against former prime minister Imran Khan. He also obtained interim bail. Rights activists criticised the Sindh government and Pakistan Peoples Party for facilitating the return of the absconding MNA.

The National Commission of Human Rights also questioned political interference in the case and alleged that government functionaries were making attempts to influence the investigations into the case and the trial was being deliberately delayed by the prosecution department.

The commission stated in an application that was submitted before the high court that it was obvious there was no chance of fair trial and justice conclusion of the case if it was left at the mercy of state offices, including those of the prosecutor general and advocate general Sindh. The commission’s representatives submitted that efforts by the accused to influence the case had apparently led the widow of the deceased to stop pursuing the case.