KARACHI: Five suspects in the murder of a young journalist escaped from a district and sessions court in Malir on Thursday after their request for interim bail was rejected.
The body of Nazim Jokhio was found inside a Malir farmhouse in November. The victim had died apparently after being thrashed with sticks and punches in a scuffle.
Jokhio had stopped and filmed some foreigners while hunting rare houbara bustards in his native village in Thatta, according to the first information report (FIR) of the incident registered on the complaint of his brother Afzal Jokhio.
“MPA Jam Awais alias Gohram, along with Niaz Salar, Ahmed Shoro, Haider Ali and Mehr Ali, killed my brother by kicking and punching, and beating him with batons close to the gate of Jam House,” the report quoted Afzal as telling the police.
Jam Awais Khan Jokhio, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker, surrendered to the police days later after Jokhio’s relatives staged a sit-in on a highway.
The suspects who escaped included Saleem Salar, Dodo Khan, Muhammad Soomar, Muhammad Ishaq and Muhammad Khan Jokhio.
The court reserved its verdict on their petitions on January 8 in the light of the investigation report and said to announce its decision on January 13.
In a previous hearing, the court expressed annoyance over the police investigator for failing to complete the investigation in the murder.
The investigation officer (IO) sought time to submit a final charge sheet, maintaining he was yet to receive reports of a forensic analysis of digital video recorder (DVR) footage recovered from cameras at the farmhouse and portable storage.
