Man killed over Rs15 million business dispute

MULTAN: Police said they solved a blind murder case within 24 hours and arrested two men accused of killing a trader after allegedly luring him to Abdul Hakeem on the pretext of making a payment.

According to police, the victim was identified as Ghulam Shabbir, a resident of Shorkot, who had been involved in wheat and rice trading with his business partner Akhtar Abbas for a long time.

Investigators said the case stemmed from a financial dispute between the two men. Police said Ghulam Shabbir had demanded Rs15 million that he alleged Akhtar Abbas owed him, and that the demand led to a heated exchange over the phone.

Police said that after the argument, the suspect allegedly planned the killing.

Police account of the incident

According to investigators, Akhtar Abbas called Ghulam Shabbir on Thursday and asked him to come to Abdul Hakeem, telling him that a party from Sahiwal was arriving with payment that he could collect.

Police said that when Ghulam Shabbir reached Abdul Hakeem in his car, Akhtar Abbas parked his own vehicle nearby and then, along with an accomplice identified as Zeeshan, got into the victim’s vehicle.

Police said the two suspects are accused of luring the victim under false pretences, shooting him dead and later throwing his body into the Mailsi Link Canal.

The police described the case as a blind murder that was traced and solved within a day. They said two suspects had been taken into custody in connection with the killing.

Business relationship and dispute

Police said Ghulam Shabbir and Akhtar Abbas had maintained a business partnership in wheat and rice trading for a considerable period. Investigators linked the killing to the dispute over the alleged Rs15 million payment.

According to the police version, the disagreement intensified when the victim pressed for the money he said was due to him. The subsequent phone exchange, investigators said, was followed by the alleged plan to call him to Abdul Hakeem and target him there.

Police said the body was later dumped in the Mailsi Link Canal after the shooting.

The arrests were made as part of the investigation into the killing, which police said had initially been treated as a blind murder case.