Eyewitnesses later informed his family that the attackers seemed very well-trained as they chased him in a car with high speed, overtook his car and then opened fire on him and then drove back towards Chashma Pul.
Malik Mumtaz and his family had no enmity.He had devoted himself to the services of the tribespeople and that’s why they thronged to his village when came to know about this tragic incident.Some tribal elders had stated on that occasion that the voice used to highlight their problems had been silenced forever.
Paying tributes to him for his honest and professional journalism, ex-MNA from North Waziristan Maulana Nek Zaman had stated that those who killed Malik Mumtaz were in fact the enemies of North Waziristan, as he used media for bringing peace and development in the tribal region.
Malik Mumtaz had made himself accessible to the local people. They would call him for resolving their personal disputes and problems as if he was an elected representative of the area.
It had disturbed his personal life but he would tell his friends and colleagues that if he doesn’t help the poor tribespeople who other else would come to do it.
One of his relatives Haji Usman Khan recalled that Malik Mumtaz never refused to help even those who knocked at his doors at midnight.
Many tribespeople in North Waziristan believed that Malik Mumtaz was punished for raising genuine people’s issues in the media and exposing the corrupt elements in the tribal region.
Perhaps he is among the few journalists that nobody took responsibility for his murder.Military authorities as well the Taliban groups in North Waziristan at that time had condemned Malik Mumtaz’s murder and praised his journalistic work.
The Pakistan Army had even issued a statement strongly condemning his killing and termed it an act of terrorism.Besides the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the shura of North Waziristan-based Taliban militants led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur had also condemned the killing.
They had even assured his family that they would soon expose his killers, but it didn’t happen. Two years after the tragic murder, his killers are still at large.
His family, relatives and journalist colleagues on Friday observed second death anniversary of the late journalist. Quran Khwani was held at the press clubs in Bannu, Tank, and other places and special prayers were offered.