Suspect arrested for killing elderly shopkeeper

Police on Saturday claimed to have solved the mystery of the murder of an elderly shopkeeper in District Central of Karachi by arresting the suspect who had gone into hiding after killing over non-payment of dues.

Sixty-year-old shopkeeper Ghulam Muhammad was shot dead at his general store located in Dir Colony in North Nazimabad on April 25. The suspect escaped after committing the crime.

Initially, police claimed that the victim was killed by a drug peddler as he had forbidden him to sell drugs near his store but the family rejected the police’s claims saying that the victim was killed during a mugging bid.

However, the arrest of the suspected killer resulted in a new turn in the case as police said the suspect had borrowed money from the shopkeeper and later, he had a quarrel with him over that.

The arrested man was identified as Usman. Police also claimed to have seized a pistol used in the killing from the suspect’s possession.

The suspect reportedly revealed during the interrogation that he often bought grocery from Ghulam Muhammad's shop on credit and when he went to the victim’s shop on Thursday morning to buy grocery on credit, the victim refused and it led to an altercation, during which he fired at the shopkeeper, killing him.