Sukkur police have taken action by registering a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the murder of senior journalist Jan Muhammad Mahar. Mahar was shot dead by armed assailants on a motorcycle in Sukkur, Pakistan, two days ago.
Jan Muhammad Mahar was a respected senior journalist working for a private Sindhi newspaper and its TV channel. The attack occurred late Sunday evening near St. Saviour School on Queens Road in Sukkur. The assailants fired multiple shots at Mahar while he was traveling in his car. He sustained fatal injuries, including bullets to his head and near his eyes. Mahar was immediately rushed to a private hospital, but sadly, he succumbed to his wounds during surgery.
The funeral of the deceased journalist took place in his native graveyard in Chak Town, located in the Shikarpur district on Monday.
The FIR for the murder has been filed today at the C-Section police station under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code including 147 (riots), 148 (riot with deadly weapons), 440 (mischief causing harm), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), and 302 (intentional murder). The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) has also been invoked in this case.
In addition to the FIR, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has written a letter to the Chief Minister of Sindh, appealing for the formation of a joint investigation team (JIT) to conduct a thorough investigation into the murder of Jan Muhammad Mahar. The PFUJ has requested the inclusion of representatives from the Inter-Service Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Federal Investigation Agency, Rangers, and Sindh Police in the JIT. The union believes that a JIT would facilitate a comprehensive and unbiased investigation by leveraging the expertise and resources of different investigative bodies.
The PFUJ has assured its full support to the law enforcement agencies regarding this matter, emphasizing the importance of bringing the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.