KARACHI – A veteran journalist, who had been living alone after retirement was murdered during Eid holidays in Karachi, officials said on Wednesday.
According to Superintendent Police Dr Rizwan Ahmed, Zeba Burney, wife of late journalist Naeem Qamar was found dead inside her flat in Khudadad Colony on Monday morning.
Her body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors told police that it was a case of murder as there were signs of strangulation on her neck, the SP said.
The Brigade police registered a murder case on Wednesday against unknown suspects on a complaint of the victim’s brother, Fakhr-ul-Hasan. According to a spokesperson for the provincial government, home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal took notice of the murder and sought a detailed report from DIG East Zone Arif Hanif.
The police official detailed that initial investigation suggested that the murder was not related to any robbery attempt. He said the victim was living in a multi-storey building and his experience showed that generally, robberies did not take place in flats owing to resistance.
He maintained that in cases of murder of people living alone, mostly the servant or close relatives had been found involved.
Brigade SHO Javed told Dawn that apparently, the incident occurred on Chand Raat (Sunday) but police had been informed about it by her neighbour at around 10.30am on Monday.
The journalist who remained associated with Nawa-e-Waqt had been living alone after the death of her husband several years ago. A sister of Ms Burney, who was living with her, had also passed away a few years ago, said the police officer.
The Karachi Union of Journalists condemned the murder of the senior journalist and urged the Sindh chief minister, home minister and IGP to take immediate steps to arrest the perpetrators.
