Five men accused of murdering Nazim Jokhio have escaped from Karachi’s Malir Court on Thursday after they were denied bail.
The suspected fugitives are Saleem Salar, Muhammad Soomar, Muhammad Ishaq, Dodo Khan and Muhammad Khan Jokhio, who had been out on interim bail before today’s hearing. They had sought to extend their bails, a request which was denied at the hearing.
From there, the suspects evaded police capture and fled on foot. The judge has ordered for their immediate arrests.
The prime suspect of the case, Jam Awais, remains under custody. Awais was a member of the Sindh Assembly from Mailr and belonged to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). His brother, Jam Abdul Karim Bijar, also accused in the case, is out on bail.
Nazim Jokhio was murdered in November after he confronted the defendants about their Arab guests hunting the Houbara bustard bird in Thatta’s Achaar Salaar Goth, a sport only permitted with prior government permit.
After a video filmed by Jokhio of the avian hunting expedition went viral, he was allegedly summoned by Awais and his co-conspirators to Jam Awais’ farmhouse in Karachi’s Malir, where he was later found dead on November 3rd.
The medico-legal examiner detected signs of torture on Jokhio’s body, and ruled that he had died from shock after being beaten in his groin and abdominal regions by a hard blunt object.
The government has vowed to pursue the case even if relatives of the decedent retract their claims.
