KARACHI: A district and sessions court in Malir on Wednesday granted physical remand of three suspects in a case pertaining to the murder of a man whose tortured body was found at the farmhouse of a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker.
Police said that the tortured body of 27-year-old Nazim Jokhio was found at the farmhouse of Jam Awais Bijar in Jam Goth on November 3. Later, Bijar along with two others was arrested and remanded in police custody for questioning till November 8.
The first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint by the victim’s brother, who accused Bijar and his brother PPP MP Jam Abdul Karim Bijar of having a hand in the murder.
Bijar was forced to surrender to the police on November 4, following which a local court sent him on three-day police remand.
The police produced the accused in the court which accepted its request for a remand until November 16.
“The accused had issued threats to Jokhio after his videos on illegal hunting of Houbara bustards went viral [on social media],” the investigation officer (IO) informed the court.
“11 accused have been nominated in the case so far and a clause of kidnapping was also added in the charge sheet,” the IO said.
An autopsy found severe torture marks and bruises all over the body of the deceased.
“Jokhio was subjected to brutal use of force until he died. His body might be tortured even after his death,” police officials said on Tuesday.
The police further revealed that contrary to media reports of Bijar surrendering before the law enforcement, he “didn’t surrender but was forced to surrender himself”.
“He had fled from Karachi to Khuzdar in Balochistan,” according to police. “He later returned Karachi and reported to the police.”
“The case against Awais is purely a case of murder. The police have also initiated an investigation of the murder with the help of data recovered from his mobile phone,” they said.
“The phone locations of other suspects have been spotted,” police said. “We have decided to use the audio and video of victim Jokhio as key evidence in the case.”
