Hammad's murder mystery solved

RAO KHALID

ISLAMABAD - A special team, deputed on the orders of President Musharraf to solve the mystery surrounding the murder of Supreme Court’s Additional Registrar Hammad Raza, has arrested four culprits out of six involved in the looting and cold blooded murder of the DMG officer, TheNation has learnt.
Hammad was shot dead point blank in the wee hours of May 14, 2007 at his residence situated in Sector G-10-2 Islamabad. His murder fuelled the controversy already gripping the country after filing of the presidential reference against Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary as Hammad was considered CJ’s trustworthy subordinate.
The culprits, hailing from a remote area of Azad Kashmir, are professional robbers and were guided by a lady house mate who worked in the houses in the vicinity of Hammad’s residence, the sources said. One of the two accomplices, arrested by the special team, provided a Toyota Hiace to the robbers in Lahore and the four accused travelled to Islamabad the same night to rob the house of Hammad Raza.
The four robbers used to sell the looted ornaments to a goldsmith belonging to their native town in Azad Kashmir. He was also arrested.
The officials involved in tracing the culprits told on condition of anonymity that during the investigation, the two accused persons revealed that they reached the house of Hammad Raza along with two of their accomplices, who are still at large, at around 4:30 a.m.
They apprehended Hammad’s mother and father who were sleeping in the room on ground floor. Hammad’s mother was wearing the gold ornaments and had in her purse Rs. 10,000. They asked the lady to hand over the ornaments and the money.
They also grabbed the wrist watch of Hammad’s father and the mobile phones from both of them, the sources said.
These mobile phones led to their arrest as the special team traced the mobile phones through International Mobile Equipment Identification (IMEI) number. The culprits were using the phones replacing the SIM cards of the phones but still these were traceable through IMEI.
According to the sources, after looting the parents of Hammad, they inquired about the presence of any other person in the house from the terrified young house mate who was sleeping there. On her lead, they went upstairs and knocked at the door of Hammad’s room where he and his wife were sleeping.
The sources revealed, as Hammad opened the door the four accused tried to force their entry into the room but Hammad instinctively got hold of the person leading them. The real brother of the culprit held by Hammad was following him.
He put the pistol at the forehead of Hammad and shot him dead. They fled the scene immediately.
The investigation team also recovered the melted gold and the jewels fixed in the ornaments belonging to Hammad’s mother. The special probe team is trying to nab the two accused persons who are at large but their identity is no more a secret.
According to the sources, the investigation team has recovered the murder weapon from the bushes near the place of occurrence in Sector G-10-4 on the pointing of arrested culprits.
It is also learnt that the officials of the special team has briefed the
judicial authorities conducting and monitoring the investigations to find out the real cause of murder and the people involved in the heinous crime.
The officials of Islamabad Police are likely to address a press conference today (Wednesday) to reveal the details of the investigation.