PPP MPA blamed after man killed over ‘posting videos of houbara bustard hunting’

A man was recently abducted and killed in the outskirts of Karachi allegedly over posting videos on social media of foreigners hunting houbara bustard in Thatta district.

Nazim Jhokio, according to his family, was tortured to death in the Memon Goth area of District Malir on Tuesday. The body was, however, found in the area on Wednesday. Following the discovery of the body, a large number of family members and relatives of the deceased man gathered on the National Highway and staged a protest against the incident, which caused a massive traffic jam in the surrounding area.

The victim’s brother, Afzal Jhokio, has accused a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA of having his brother killed. Talking to The News, District Malir SSP Irfan Bahadur confirmed that torture marks were found on the victim’s body. “We have recorded the statement of the victim’s brother who is going to nominate a PPP lawmaker, his secretary, guards and others in the case,” the officer said.

The Malir SSP said the police had recorded a video statement of the victim’s brother, in which he claimed that three days before Nazim was murdered, he was manhandled by security guards of the PPP MPA as he had stopped the MPA’s foreign guests from hunting Houbara bustard in Thatta. Later, Nazim posted videos showing foreigners hunting Houbara bustard on his social media accounts.

The Malir SSP explained that the victim’s brother told the police that following the scuffle, the secretary of the PPP MPA called him at the lawmaker’s farmhouse known as ‘Jam House’ in Malir’s Memon Goth on Tuesday where he was beaten to death with batons. The body was later thrown away in the area.

“We have recorded his (victim’s brother) video statement as he wants to nominate the PPP lawmaker, his secretary and others in the FIR,” SSP Bahadur said. The officer added that two guards of the PPP lawmaker had so far been detained and further investigations were under way.

The victim’s family has appealed to the higher authorities to take notice of the incident and get them justice by arresting the culprits. However, no case had been registered till this story was filed on Wednesday night.

The leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh of the Pakistan Tehreek-s-Insaf, also condemned the incident, saying that he was in contact with the victim’s family and would help them get justice.