Fresh probe into policeman’s murder

Dawar was kidnapped from Islamabad and later found dead in Afghanistan

AJoint Investigation Team (JIT), constituted some 21 days after the kidnapping and murder of a senior Peshawar Police officer, has decided to investigate his murder afresh.

It will take into account all the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping from Islamabad and his murder in Afghanistan later.

The seven-member JIT will record the statements of the staff and family members of Tahir Dawar, the Superintendent of Police (SP) Rural, Peshawar, and collect evidence in the police officer’s kidnapping and subsequent murder in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Dawar was kidnapped from Islamabad on October 26 and on November 13, his body was found by some locals in Nangarhar.

His body was handed over to Pakistani authorities by the Afghan government on Thursday, after negotiations between the two governments.

Diplomatic row

The entire matter sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries, with Pakistan expressing its disappointment over the Afghan government’s reluctance to hand over a senior police official’s body.

Speaking to Gulf News ,a senior official of Islamabad police yesterday said that in view of the sensitivity of the matter, the JIT includes members of the armed forces and secret agencies.

The seven-member investigation team has to submit its report within 45 days.