Arshad Sharif murder probe: Inquiry team records Khurram, Waqar Ahmed’s statements

The inquiry team has made major progress on senior journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder case as they recorded the testimonies of two witnesses to the assassination in Nairobi including Khurram Ahmed and Waqar Ahmed.

According to private TV channels, the inquiry committee met Khurram Ahmed, who was driving the vehicle carrying the slain journalist and his brother Waqar Ahmed in the Kenyan capital.

The committee, which comprises an official each from the Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), is currently in Kenya to investigate the murder, according to Dawn News.

The channels reported that Arshad Sharif was staying at a place, owned by the two brothers. But there was no confirmation from either the IB or the FIA that the committee had questioned them.

Arshad Sharif’s killing: Four important questions still unanswered!

Television reports said Khurram and Waqar Ahmed, who hosted Arshad Sharif in Kenya, described the shooting as one of “mistaken identity”. Waqar reportedly told the probe team that he had hosted Arshad Sharif at his friend’s request. But he did not identify the person at whose request the brothers provided lodging facility to the journalist.

Television channels quoted Waqar as saying: “I met Arshad Sharif only once during a meal at his lodge outside Nairobi.” The ARY News quoted him as saying: “On the day of the incident (Oct 23), Arshad had a meal with us at our lodge. After the meal, Arshad left with my brother Khurram in a car and 30 minutes later there was a report of firing on the vehicle.”

Waqar reportedly told the investigation team that his brother Khurram Ahmed “miraculously survived” the shooting and “we handed over Arshad’s iPad and mobile phone to Kenyan authorities”.

According to the channel, the two brothers told the Pakistani investigating officers the slain journalist was planning to move to Nairobi and that he had extended his visa for the purpose.

Arshad Sharif’s killing case: ARY CEO Salman Iqbal calls for UN-led probe

According to the Kenyan police, Arshad Sharif was killed in Nairobi on Oct 23 when police, “hunting car thieves”, opened fire on the car he was travelling in when it ignored warnings to stop and drove on through a roadblock.

A police statement said the shooting was being treated as a case of ‘mistaken identity’. The killing sparked outrage in Pakistan and calls for an investigation. The government heeded to the calls, setting up a two-member inquiry team and dispatching it to Nairobi.

Sharif was killed in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Sunday night. Arshad Sharif is one of the renowned investigative journalists of Pakistan who covered major political events in the country for national and international media outlets.

After Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, the family of the slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif termed his death ‘target killing’.

The federal government announced holding a judicial inquiry into the journalist’s killing case and formed a two-member committee that left for Kenya to collect evidence.

The slain journalist was laid to rest on October 27 in Islamabad.