Mohammad Saleem
FAISALABAD: The recent murder of a polio worker in the district has turned out to be a case of a family dispute.
It is learnt that Mohammad Sarfraz, a 48-year-old teacher at the Government Rehmania High School, was gunned down at the behest of his son Zeeshan’s father-in-law Faiz Alam. Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfraz’s brother who was plaintiff in the murder case, named Alam through supplementary statement. Alam is still at large because he is settled in the US.
Sources said Zeeshan had contracted marriage with Alam’s daughter in 2011 and went to the US next year. Alam was not happy with the love marriage and he pressured Zeeshan by asking him to pay $200,000 dower (Haq Mehar). The marriage took place when the girl had come to Faisalabad to see her relatives, sources said.
Iftikhar told Dawn that the family had named Alam in the FIR for pressuring Zeeshan to divorce his (Alam’s) daughter. He said Alam had warned Zeeshan with dire consequences for not heeding his demand. He said the police were investigating the case and they should approach the relatives of Alam at Bucheke, Lahore and Gujranwala who can help bring him to Pakistan.
He said Zeeshan had spent 19 hours in a US prison when Alam complained to the police that he (Zeeshan) had come to his home and threatened him with dire consequences. The police released him after agreeing to his statement that he had been invited by Alam to a party.
On Sept 5 last, Sarfraz was attacked by unidentified people when he was heading towards his school. He remained unhurt, however, passerby Salman Masih suffered bullet injury on his leg.
Sarfraz had filed an application with the Peoples Colony police for registration of a case but the police asked him to identify the culprits. The IGP suspended DSP Abid Zafar and SHO Abid Hussain from service for refusing to register a case.
Sarfraz was shot dead by motorcyclists near Peoples Colony’s Saleemi Chowk when he was administering polio drops to children on Dec 9. The incident spread panic among the polio workers who immediately suspended the campaign and protested along with teachers.
A police officer told Dawn that several people had been taken into custody for interrogation as media reports had alerted the international donors that polio workers were not safe in Pakistan.
He said during interrogation it had been established that killing of Sarfraz was an outcome of a family dispute.
He said Alam had denied the allegation and was involved in litigation with Zeeshan in the US. He said Zeeshan had also won a civil suit in the US that was filed by Alam’s family for divorce. The police would seek help of Interpol for Alam’s arrest, he said.
Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment