KP minister criticises own govt for failing to work out Gandapur assassination

PESHAWAR: A member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has criticised his own government and the police for failure to work out the case of assassination of former minister Israrullah Gandapur, a source told The News.
“It is astonishing that the KP government and the provincial assembly have kept mum over the tragic murder of Israr Gandapur in a suicide attack. My family, friends and people from the constituency are questioning the potency of the government now,” said an official letter sent by provincial minister for agriculture Ikramullah Khan Gandapur, the elder brother of Israr Gandapur, to Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on April 13.
The letter added that after a lapse of one and a half years, the perpetrators have neither been identified nor brought to justice.The copies of the official letter, bearing DO number ps/min/agri/JIT/2015, sent on April 13, were sent to Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), federal interior minister, Chief of Army Staff and Corps Commander Peshawar.
In the letter, the provincial agriculture minister demanded constitution of a joint investigation team (JIT) headed by a serving brigadier rank officer to probe the suicide attack on Israr Gandapur.
Israr Gandapur, the then law minister in the KP government, was killed along with many others when a suicide bomber targetted him in his hujra or male guest house on the day of Eidul Azha in October 2013.
The family has been demanding from all those concerned to work out the high-profile case. On a number of occasions, they expressed their displeasure over the investigation into the incident. “It would not be out of place to make it a point that “No Serious Efforts” whatsoever have been made to reach out to the perpetrators, handlers, financiers and plotters of this gory incident. We protested this issue on all the concerned forums but to no avail,” continues the dispatch by Ikramullah Gandapur.
The letter demanded constitution of a high-level JIT, headed by a brigadier and having representatives from police, ISI, Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency.
“The JIT must be mandated to lay hands on any individual who is found involved in this gory incident. The JIT should be tasked to work out the case within 30 days after which the case should be instantly referred to the military court for trial,” said the official letter of the KP agriculture minister.
There were at least two earlier attempts to take the life of Israrullah Gandapur, including an unexploded improvised explosive device in 2012 and a bomb attack in 2013.
Israrullah Gandapur, the son of the late chief minister Sardar Inayatullah Khan Gandapur, won the 2013 general election as independent. He was heading a group of 13 independent MPAs in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly until he joined the PTI to become the minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Human Rights.
Israrullah is survived by a widow, eight-year old son Sardar Inayatullah Gandapur Junior and three-year old daughter Sherbano. His elder brother Ikramullah Gandapur contested and won the seat that fell vacant after his death and was appointed minister for agriculture. Another brother of Israrullah Gandapur is currently additional secretary Excise and Taxation.
The family members of the slain minister complained that the PTI-led government hasn’t taken any real interest in the murder case of Israrullah Gandapur.
The family even protested that PTI took up the issue of its activists Zahra Shahid and Haq Nawaz, who too were killed, at every forum but never said a word about Israrullah Gandapur, who was a sitting minister in the PTI government when assassinated.