Nine arrested in Kolai-Palas DEO murder case

MANSEHRA: Nine accused were arrested in the murder case of the district education officer Kolai-Palas and raids were being conducted to nab two others including a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, officials said here on Monday.

“The DEO Kolai-Palas, Nawab Ali, had refused to appoint 17 lower grade employees on the demand of the accused despite threats,” District Police Officer, Mansehra, Zaibullah Khan told a news conference here. Arif Javed, the head of the joint team constituted by Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hazara, Mazharul Haq Kakakhel and Kolai-Palas District Police Officer Iftikhar Khan were also present on the occasion.

Zaibullah Khan said the blind murder of Nawab Ali was a big challenge for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police but the JIT constituted by DIG Hazara did a good job and not only found out the reasons which led to murder but also arrested the accused.

The slain official was under tremendous pressure from local MPA Mufti Obaidullah of PML-Q and other suspects, including some applicants and staff of his office, to appoint all those in a list prepared by them or get ready for the consequences, he said.

“We have also obtained a letter written by Nawab Ali to someone whose name was being kept secret, revealing names and other details of those who not only kept him in illegally confinement in Abbottabad but also threatened him with dire consequences,” the official added. He said that Nawab Ali was called by Mohammad Aziz, a former nazim of Jijal Union Council, to his residence in Abbottabad and confined there for many hours during which he was forced at gunpoint to sign appointment letters of 17 employees on September 27, 2019.

“Nawab Ali cancelled the appointments four days after his confinement, which angered the accused and some officials of his department and they killed him,” said DPO Zaibullah Khan.

He also shared names of the suspects including Badil Khan and Mohammad Iqbal, both senior clerks at the office of District Education Officer (DEO) in Kolai-Palas, MPA Mufti Obaidullah, Pasand Khan, a dispatcher in the education department, Mohammad Iqbal, Abdul Wadood, Dost Mohammad, and Obaidullah, applicants for post of drivers, Noorul Haq, a teacher, and Fakharuddin and Zakir Khan.

The other accused have been nabbed while the MPA and another accused are still at large and the police said raids were being conducted to arrest them as well.

DEO Nawab Ali belonged to Shangla and his murder in Kolai-Palas district had led to widespread protests in his native district and also in rest of the province as teachers expressed anger over the slow progress in identifying and arresting his killers.

Meanwhile, the accused were remanded in police custody for seven days of judicial remand. The accused were presented before the judicial magistrate in Bisham in Shangla district.