Hunt on for ‘police officer who paid killers of Maulana Qayyum’

The Sindh police department’s probe team is hunting a police officer over his alleged involvement in patronising and paying up the target killers of martyred religious scholar Maulana Abdul Qayyum.

Officials said on Saturday that a few days ago East Range DIG Muqadas Haider had announced at a media briefing the arrest of two suspects who had shot dead Sunni Ulema Council leader Maulana Qayyum on March 21 while he was returning home after offering Fajr prayers in Gulistan-e-Jauhar’s Block 9.

The murder case was registered under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar police station.

A team formed under the supervision of the District East SSP arrested Ali Akbar alias Shahid and Tanveer. Weapons used in the crime and cell phones and a motorcycle were also seized from the possession of the two.

DIG Haider said the Maulana Qayyum was murdered over a plot dispute, and the killers were paid Rs250,000 and told they would get the rest of the money after the killing.

Officials said that after the arrest of Ali Akbar and Tanveer, Sindh police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon formed a high-powered investigation team, consisting of officials of the Investigation East Range and the Counter Terrorism Department, to grill the suspects and ascertain who had facilitated and planned to kill the religious scholar.

During the interrogation, the suspects revealed that Inspector Ateeq, a Sindh police official who is currently on deputation in a federal investigation department, had paid them to murder the religious scholar. The investigation team checked the call records and CCTV footage, which confirmed that the inspector had been in contact with the suspects.

A senior police officer said the probe team was hunting police officer Ateeq, who was on the run. He said raids were being conducted at different locations to arrest Ateeq.

The police officer said investigations had revealed that Ateeq had ben involved in other criminal offences in the past.