The special Joint Investigation Team (JIT) has decided to record the statement of murdered Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif's mother and wife in connection with an investigation into the case, ARY News reported. On Friday, the special JIT held its first meeting at the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) headquarters.
In the meeting, the special JIT decided that it will set up its own terms of reference (ToRs) for conducting an investigation into the Arshad Sharif murder case. As per the ARY News report, the special JIT formed by Pakistan's government will record the testimonies of Sharif's mother and wife while all revelant people will be contacted to record their statements.
Notably, Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was killed in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23, where he lived in self-exile. In a statement, the JIT spokesperson announced that they have started preparations to complete travel documents for visiting Kenya.
On December 8, Pakistan's federal government gave the names of the members of a new special joint investigation team to Supreme Court. Additional Attorney General, Aamir Rehman submitted the notification of the five-member JIT before the five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court hearing suo moto notice of Arshad Sharif's murder, according to ARY News report.
On Wednesday, Pakistan Supreme Court had sought details regarding members of Joint Investigation Team (JIT). Notably, Pakistan's government has established a special joint investigation team to conduct an investigation into the murder of senior journalist Arshad Sharif.
The members of JIT include Sajid Kiyani, Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) Intelligence Branch, FIA's Waqarauddin Syed, DIG Headquarters Owais Ahmed, Murtaza Afzal from the Military Intelligence and Muhammad Aslam from the ISI.
In response to Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar's query, the AAGP said that JIT will make efforts to complete the investigation at the earliest, as per the news report. The SC adjourned the hearing of the Arshad Sharif murder case till the first week of January and ordered the submission of the progress reports of the committee after every two weeks.
Kenyan police first said that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of "mistaken identity." Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif's killing could have been a 'targeted assassination' as there were 'discrepancies' found in the statement of the Kenyan police, the findings of a two-person fact-finding team made up of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) personnel revealed on Thursday, reported Dawn.
The 592-page report that the investigators provided to the Supreme Court's five-member bench, led by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, refuted the Kenyan police's account of Sharif's murder, which they described as "a case of mistaken identity," as per the Dawn report. It cannot be excluded that "transnational roles of characters in Kenya, Dubai, and Pakistan" were involved in the assassination, the investigative report stated.
( With inputs from ANI )
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