New JIT formed to probe Parveen Rehman murder

By
Talha Hashmi
|
Parveen Rehman. — File photo

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has ordered constitution of another Joint Investigation Team to investigate the murder of Orangi Pilot Project director Parveen Rehman in 2013.

In a notification under the Federal Investigation Agency, the new JIT will be formed under the agency’s counter-terrorism wing director.

The order of the new JIT came in light of the Supreme Court’s dissatisfaction with the earlier investigations in the case by the investigators, stated the notification.

The JIT’s first session will be on October 8, at 9 AM in Karachi.

In the session, all the eyewitnesses, evidence and investigation material is to be presented before the JIT.

The initial investigation report is to be presented within two weeks under the new JIT.

The new JIT will comprise Director FIA Counter-terrorism Unit Babar Bakht Qureshi, SSP Pir M Shah, Deputy Director M Arib Mehar and officials from the ISI, IB and Rangers.

Earlier this week, the apex court judge Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that mafia finishes off those who work for the benefit of others, adding that the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) seem powerless before land and water mafia. 

Rahman, who was the Director of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) was gunned down by four men in a targeted attack near the Banaras fly-over in Orangi Town in March 2013. She was a vocal activist working against the land and water mafia in the city.

Police had arrested the prime suspect in the case, Rahim Swati, on May 7, 2016, during a shootout in Sultanabad area.

The eight-member JIT was formed in February 2018 at the request of Inspector-General Sindh AD Khawaja. The JIT included officials of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Rangers and intelligence agencies said that Rahman.

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