Former SHO nominated in Arshad Pappu murder case, companion gunned down

A former station house officer (SHO) Javed Baloch, who was allegedly involved in the gruesome murder of Arshad Pappu, leader of a notorious Lyari gang, was gunned down in a broad daylight incident of targeted killing in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar locality on Friday.

His close relative, also a retired government official, was also shot dead in the incident. During his police service, Javed had been suspended and dismissed several times. He was accused of heading the police team that abducted Pappu and handed him over to his rival gang leader Uzair Baloch who had him brutally murdered.

Javed, 55 and his companion, Muhammad Mussadiq, 65, were returning on a motorcycle after attending a hearing at an anti-terrorism court (ATC) when armed motorcyclists targeted them in Soldier Bazaar at around 10:20am. Though many people filmed the injured men while they died due to excessive bleeding, no one came to help them and shift them to a medical facility. After the men died, their bodies were moved to the Civil Hospital, Karachi.

“They were returning from an ATC when the suspects, who were already following them, targeted them in the Soldier Bazaar area,” District East SSP Javed Raza Jiskani told the media at the crime scene. “It is premature to say anything about the culprits as the investigations are at the preliminary level but the possibility of the Arshad Pappu case could not be ruled out.”

The officer explained that four armed men on two motorcycles shot the two men. “The victims were not killed during a mugging bid but their killings occurred over personal enmity.”

Mussadiq was a retired employee of the Sindh Secretariat who lived in the Chakiwara area of Lyari, SSP Jiskani said, adding that the police had seized 18 empty shells of a 9mm pistol and three bullets from the crime scene.

Javed served as the Chakirwara SHO during his police service. He was also named in the joint investigation team report of the alleged Lyari gang war kingpin Uzair and was also a nominated accused in the Arshad Pappu abduction-cum-murder case. He was also arrested for allegedly assisting a Lyari gang in the abduction of Pappu.

A CCTV video of the incident showed four men on two motorcycles intercepting the victims. One of the armed men, who was wearing pants and a shirt came close to them and opened fire for around 90 seconds, injuring them critically. As he shot the two men, his companions stayed at some distance away.

The video also showed the suspect firing at the two men while returning towards his accomplices. Some mobile phone videos of the incident made by citizens also circulated on the social media showing both the victims in a critical state at the crime scene. However, none of the video makers apparently bothered to help them.

Some citizens, however, can be heard in the video shouting for calling an ambulance. Another voice in a video says that one of the victims was breathing. Later in the evening, the Soldier Bazaar police registered an FIR No 586/21 against unidentified suspects under the sections 302/34 on the complaint of Javed’s brother Khalid Baloch.

Arshad Pappu’s murder

After Javed was arrested by the Rangers on September 29, 2013, during a targeted operation, he reportedly disclosed details of the gruesome murder of Pappu, the rival of Uzair in the Lyari gang war. According to Javed’s statement, Pappu, his brother Yasir and their confidante Shera Pathan were all picked up from the home of Sub-Inspector Zakir in Defence.

He added that the kidnappers were wearing uniforms of the Rangers. He informed the interrogators that Pappu and Yasir were taken to Afshan Gali, whereas Pathan was taken to another location.

According to Javed, Pappu and his brother were decapitated with a knife and their bodies were then paraded in the Gabol and Aman parks, after which they were chopped into pieces before being set ablaze. Their ashes were then thrown into a drain.