Arshad Sharif’s killing: Salman Iqbal says cooperating with inquiry team despite concerns

KARACHI: President and CEO ARY Digital Network Mr Salman Iqbal has asserted that he was cooperating with the investigation team – constituted by federal government to probe killing of senior journalist Arshad Sharif – despite concerns.

Taking to Twitter, the ARY Digital Network CEO said: “The investigation team just got in touch with me yesterday about the killing of my brother Arshad Sharif”.

Salman Iqbal noted he and his team was cooperating with the investigation team despite concerns about the independence and transparency of the PMLN [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] government’s investigation.

The investigation team just got in touch with me yesterday about the killing of my brother Arshad Sharif. While I still have concerns about the independence and transparency of the PMLN government investigation, my team and I are providing them with our full cooperation.

— Salman Iqbal ARY (@Salman_ARY) November 15, 2022

Earlier in October, President and CEO ARY Digital Network Mr Salman Iqbal reiterated his demand for the constitution of an independent inquiry commission with Supreme Court’s (SC) sitting judges alongside United Nations Human Rights members to probe into slain senior journalist Arshad Sharif’s murder case.

Reacting to the government’s commission, the ARY Digital Network CEO said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif failed to appoint a credible commission of inquiry into Arshad Sharif’s death in order to ensure transparency despite giving assurance.

He demanded, ‘An independent SC Inquiry Commission with sitting judges must be established with the United Nations Human Rights’ support to secure justice for Arshad Sharif.

A day earlier, it was reported that a two-member inquiry team reached United Arab Emirates (UAE) to investigate the killing of senior journalist.

According to details, two-member inquiry team – which comprises an official each from the Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – has reached UAE to investigate the killing.

Sources told ARY News that the team will investigate the matter of the journalist’s arrival in Dubai. It will investigate the slain journalist’s meetups in the Arab country, they added.

The investigation team will also visit Sharif’s residence in the UAE, sources said, adding that it will also examine the reasons why Arshad left the country.

Arshad Sharif’s assassination

The senior journalist and former ARY News anchor, was killed in Kenyan capital Nairobi on October 23 where he was living in self-exile.

Kenyan police first said that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of “mistaken identity” but since the seasoned journalist’s post-mortem and his body’s transfer to his home country, several Kenyan news outlets have not only questioned the police’s conduct but have raised questions over the manner in which he was killed.