All accused involved in killing of prominent Islamabad businessman during dacoity arrested, Talal says

State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry said on Tuesday that all the accused involved in the killing of a prominent businessman in Islamabad during a dacoity had been arrested.

Police said on Monday that a businessman identified as Amir Awan was murdered during an alleged dacoity at his farmhouse located in Orchard Scheme. Political figures, VIPs and big-shots, including an adviser to the prime minister, own property in the neighbourhood where the incident took place.

In a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Chaudhry addressed the incident and said, “The accused belong to the Mansoor Khan gang … They are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dangerous nature of the gang had prevented the local police from arresting them. Afghanis as well as other people are included in the gang.”

He said the safe city cameras and the professional attitude of Islamabad police contributed in arresting the accused. He said that the Islamabad inspector general, on the directions of the interior minister, personally monitored the case.

“The heart-wrenching incident shattered hearts. After the dacoits took the life of Amir Awan, the concerns of Islamabad citizens and the business community were valid,” he said.

During the press conference, the minister also highlighted other criminal cases that had occurred in Islamabad, saying that those had also been solved within hours.

He said there was no dacoity with murder or murder case in Islamabad that had been solved.

“I can say this with full belief and with figures. All cases were worked out 100 per cent, whether they be blind murder or dacoity with murder. People were arrested, some were killed in police encounters, some are on-trial prisoners, while others are serving sentences,” he asserted.

Citing figures, he said that there was a 63 per cent reduction in heinous crime in the capital city as compared to the last year. He said that regular crimes, including car theft, motorbike theft, robberies and other small crimes also fell by 78pc.

At the outset of the presser, Chaudhry maintained that the law and order situation in Islamabad was different from other cities due to the presence of diplomats and Pakistan’s institutions.

He also noted that international delegations, foreigners, including ambassadors and businessmen, and people from four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir resided in Islamabad.

He said that the interior minister took basic decisions related to the law and order situation in the city after assuming the charge of the ministry.

“At that time, the safe city project did not cover one fourth part of the city. The cameras and their quality lagged behind the technology used in the modern world. Likewise, police had a scarcity of resources, from training to recruitment. The city also lacked a forensics lab,” he said, adding that these issues were addressed.

“The forensic lab is the next phase. The safe city project will be completed this year. It will not be a safe city but a smart city, and Islamabad will be the country’s first smart city where almost all governance issues will be handled through cameras and artificial technology,” he added.