No breakthrough in Peshawar priest murder case

PESHAWAR: There is no breakthrough in the probe into the murder of a Christian priest on Ring Road near Gulbahar a few weeks back.

A source said that some leads have been found and police extended the investigation to other provinces in the case. However, the source added, there was no breakthrough in the investigation so far.

An official of the city police, when asked, expressed ignorance about the probe, saying the Counter-Terrorism Department is dealing the investigation. The priest William Siraj was shot dead while Patrick Naeem was injured in an apparent targetted attack by armed motorcyclists on the Ring Road near Gulbahar.

William Siraj had left the local church after Sunday mass along with two other priests when armed motorcyclists opened fire on the vehicle they were travelling in. William had received multiple bullets while Patrick was slightly injured in the firing.

After a series of target killing of policemen, the killing of the priest had set the alarm bells ringing for the police. Another minority member, a Sikh hakeem, Papindar Singh, was also wounded when an armed man opened fire on him at his dawakhana on the Kohat Road a week back. The attacker was later caught by the locals. The incident seemed to be that of robbery and not the target-killing.