7-member JIT to probe SP Dawar’s killing

ISLAMABAD: A seven-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formed on Friday to investigate the abduction and martyrdom of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police superintendent Tahir Khan Dawar earlier this week.

SP Tahir Dawar, who went missing from Islamabad on October 26, was found dead in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province earlier this week. He was laid to rest in Peshawar late Thursday after Afghan officials handed over his mortal remains to a Pakistani delegation at the Torkham border, Geo News reported.

According to a notification from the office of the Chief Commissioner, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) here Friday, the Superintendent of Police Investigation in Islamabad will head the committee.

The committee will also include the sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) at Islamabad's Shalimar Circle, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) from the Crime Investigation Department, one representative each from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI), and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the investigating officer of the case.

The JIT has been formed under Section 19 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997.

"The Joint Investigation Team shall complete investigation within the stipulated time period as laid down in the ATA 1997," read the notification.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered an immediate inquiry into "the shocking tragedy".

"[I] have followed the shocking tragedy of the murder of SP Tahir Khan Dawar and ordered KP government to coordinate with Islamabad police in holding an inquiry immediately,” the prime minister said on Thursday.

"Minister of State for Interior Shahryar Afridi has been tasked to oversee it with an urgency and present the report to me," he added.