FIR of Arshad Sharif's killing registered on SC order 

FIR of Arshad Sharif's killing registered on SC order 

Islamabad (Web Desk): A first information report (FIR) of murder of journalist Arshad Sharif was registered on Tuesday on the Supreme Court's (SC) orders.

According to details, FIR was registered at Islamabad's Ramna Police Station on the complaint of Station House Officer (SHO) Rasheed Ahmed.

It stated that Arshad was killed in Nairobi, Kenya.

The report added that his postmortem was conducted at Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital on October 26.

The postmortem report showed that the deceased died of gunshot wounds, the FIR read.

It read that the medical board handed over four parcels of evidence to the police after the postmortem was carried out.

The FIR further stated that the full medical report was asked to be given later and the body of the slain journalist had been handed over to his heirs.

The inquiry into the murder was being conducted at a senior level, it added.

The FIR  read that further action would be taken in the light of the postmortem report and analysis of the parcels.

Five parcels have been kept in the police’s malkhana.

Inspector Mian Shahbaz has been assigned to investigate the murder, the FIR stated.

Earlier in the day, the SC directed the incumbent government to register an FIR of the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif by tonight.

The directives came after Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial took suo motu notice of the murder.

A five-member bench including  Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Justice Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar is hearing the case.

The top court also sought the inquiry report of the committee formed by the government to probe the killing, adjourning the hearing till Wednesday.

As per the SC statement, the honourable CJP has issued notices to Secretary Interior, Secretary Foreign Affairs, Secretary Information and Broadcasting, Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) DG Intelligence Bureau (IB) and President Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya on October 23.

Initially, Kenyan media had quoted the local police as saying Sharif was shot dead by police in a case of “mistaken identity”.

However, later reports reconstructed the events surrounding the killing, stating that an occupant in Sharif’s car at the time of his killing was believed to have shot at paramilitary General Service Unit (GSU) officers.

Arshad had left Pakistan in August 2022 after a number of cases were registered against him.

It was reported that he was initially staying in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after which he went to Kenya, where he was shot dead.

The Pakistani government had formed a two-member team, including FIA and IB officials, to probe the murder. The team had travelled to Kenya and UAE.

In November, the FIA had told a Senate committee that it is preparing a report following the return of the investigation team from Kenya.