The murder of Mureed Abbas – Reasons and Investigations

TV Anchor Mureed Abbas’s murder case has once again grabbed the attention of the nation after Adil Zaman – a suspect in the murder case – fled from the premises of Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Today (10^th September 10, 2020), the Supreme Court revoked the bail granted to Adil Zaman, the co-accused in anchorperson’s murder case. A three-judge bench, hearing a plea seeking the cancellation of Adil’s bail at the SC’s Karachi registry, ordered police to arrest the accused and send him behind bars at once.

Let’s take an in-depth review of the reasons behind the murder of Mureed Abbas and the investigation so far.

Mureed Abbas’s murder

An anchorperson of a private news channel, Mureed Abbas, was gunned down by Atif Zaman on 9^th July 2019 in Defence area of Karachi. A friend of the anchorperson, Khizar Hayat, also received two bullets in the same incident. Hayat was shifted to a private hospital but he succumbed to his wounds.

The district police informed that he was killed during a fight over a personal dispute. South DIG Sharjeel Kharal said that friends of the deceased informed the police that he had a monetary dispute with Atif Zaman – who later attempted suicide.

CCTV footage showed that Atif Zaman and his associates hurriedly leaving from their residential apartment with weapons in their hand. The CCTV footage also shows the body being taken by a few people including a woman.

The reason behind murder

The deceased’s wife, who is also a TV anchor, said that her husband invested Rs5 million in Zaman’s tyre business and was lately asking him to return his funds.

Investigation in murder case revealed that the conflict started with Rs5 million reached a total of Rs1 billion scam whereas accused Atif Zaman also had to give Rs170 million to a British woman. The woman claimed that she had invested Rs170 million in Atif Zaman’s business.

The investigation further revealed that Zaman had reportedly defrauded Rs500 million collectively from at least 70 persons, including 30 to 40 individuals of the media. Zaman had also doing smuggling of tyres, and was in close contact with tyre smugglers in Balochistan.

Investigation

Investigations into the murders of Mureed Abbas have entered a major financial scandal, with the FIA, FBR and other key agencies also involved. Meanwhile, the NAB has also decided to investigate Atif Zaman’s assets.

The bail of Adil Zaman, brother of Atif Zaman, the main accused in the case, has been rejected by the Supreme Court today and the court has ordered to send the accused back to jail.

The arrest of accused Adil Zaman is expected soon after the court orders while significant progress is also expected in the re-hearing of the case this month.