SWABI: Unidentified assailants shot dead the Shahmansoor union council’s former nazim and Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf leader Mohammad Arshad, police said on Friday.
His brother, Mohammad Tariq, told the police that Arshad left his home in his vehicle on Thursday evening, but did not return. He said the family became worried and started searching for him as his mobile phone also remained switched off.
Tariq said that someone had called his brother on his mobile and afterwards he left home, adding that the family didn’t know who had contacted him.
He said that a man named Aamir Khan informed him about his brother the next morning, and when he reached the location, he found the body of his brother lying there.
Tariq said his vehicle, however, was missing and had apparently been taken away by the assailants.
He told police that the family had no enmity.
Zaida police station SHO Raz Mohammad told Dawn that the body was shifted to Bacha Khan Teaching Hospital, Shahmansoor, for an autopsy.
‘We have collected evidence from the crime scene and started an investigation. We will soon trace the accused, he said.
The SHO said that the police were using modern technology to identify the culprits.
Police have registered a first information report against unidentified persons and launched an investigation.
A police official said preliminary indications suggested that Arshad had been shot at close range.
Meanwhile, a 35-year-old man, identified as Zeeshan Khan, drowned in the Indus River.
A Rescue 1122 Swabi spokesperson told Dawn that the rescue service’s diving team and volunteers reached the spot and launched a search operation to recover the body.