Seminary student murdered by classmates

FAISALABAD: A 16-year-old seminary student was allegedly strangled by two fellow students in Faisalabad, with police saying the suspects were driven by jealousy over his academic standing before dumping his body in a roadside drain and trying to implicate their Quran teacher.

Police identified the victim as Muhammad Shoaib, a resident of Chak 237-GB. He had been studying to memorise the Holy Quran at a madrassa in the Batala Colony area along with his younger brother, Muhammad Abdullah. Investigators said Shoaib was regarded as one of the institution’s top students and had gained the trust of the seminary teacher, Qari Riffaqat, which allegedly triggered resentment among two other students, Rehan and Irfan.

According to police, the two teenage suspects allegedly killed Shoaib while he was asleep on the night of June 28. Investigators said they later put his body in a sack and, under cover of darkness, threw it into a drain on Satiana Road. When Qari Riffaqat later asked about Shoaib, the suspects allegedly denied knowing anything about his whereabouts.

Shoaib’s younger brother also looked for him before informing their mother, who then contacted police through the Rescue 15 helpline. Batala Colony police initially registered a kidnapping case and began searching for the missing student.

Teacher questioned after false allegation

During the inquiry, police said the two suspects allegedly circulated a false claim that Qari Riffaqat had beaten Shoaib to death and disposed of the body in the drain. Because of the seriousness of that allegation, police took the teacher into custody for questioning.

Police said a younger student at the seminary later told investigators that Rehan and Irfan had strangled Shoaib and dumped his body. The two suspects were then detained for interrogation. Investigators said they confessed to the killing and led police to the drain where the body was recovered.

After recovering the body, police added murder charges to the earlier kidnapping case and shifted the remains to a hospital for a post-mortem examination. The investigation is continuing, and police said further legal action would be taken in light of the evidence collected during the probe.