LARKANA: The station house officer (SHO) of the Bakrani police station, Inspector Abdul Sattar Bhayo, was suspended and demoted on Monday over murder of his colleague, Rafiq Ahmed Shaikh, a day earlier.

Constable Shaikh, in civvies, was returning home located in a nearby village by his motorcycle after performing night duty at the station when he was shot dead by unknown assailants at Sandhelo Laro (turning).

According to his relatives, the deceased was carrying his salary.

SHO Bhayo, soon after the incident, had visited the crime scene along with SSP Ahmed Chaudhry to collect information about the incident.

On the basis of circumstantial evidence, the SHO believed that the murder seemed to be motivated by some personal enmity, arguing that the assailants did not take away the motorcycle or any other belongings of the constable.

The initial report of the incident released by the Bakrani police, however, had claimed that the assailants were suspected robbers who shot constableShaikh for resisting their attempt to snatch his motorcycle. The SHO said that an investigation from different angles would have to be conducted to ascertain the assailants`motive.

SSP Chudhary on Monday suspended and demoted SHO Bhayo, and also asked him to report to the police headquarters.

He posted Inspector Ahmed Ali Odho as the Bakrani SHO with immediate effect.

It was reported on Sunday that the ASP City and other police officers visited the critically wounded constable at the Trauma Centre of the Chandka Medical College (CMCH) Hospital and ascertained details of the incident from his close relatives.

They were informed that the area police and some onlookers had rushed to the crime scene and shifted Rafiq Shaikh to the Trauma Centre in a precarious condition. He succumbed to his wounds during treatment.

His death prompted the Larkana DIG Nasir Aftab Pathan to contact SSP Chaudhry and order him to ensure immediately arrest the killers. The SSP, as a first step, suspended, demoted and replaced SHO Abdul Sattar Bhayo.