Man accused of killing Samaa TV journalist shot dead: Pakistan Police

Karachi, March 1

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Pakistan Police on Tuesday claimed to have shot dead one of the suspects accused of killing senior journalist Athar Mateen in an altercation here last month.

A road-blockade was set up in Shahdadkot, 470 km north of provincial capital Karachi, by local police and officers from Karachi West, Sindh Police said in a statement, adding that a suspect motorist was signalled to stop.

However, the man opened fire and was killed in a retaliatory shooting by the police.

Police said the deceased, Muhammad Anwar, from Khuzdar in Balochistan, was one of the main suspects in last month’s killing of the journalist.

The deceased was also wanted in robbery, and other heinous crimes and had served jail time on three different occasions.

On February 18, Athar Mateen, a journalist at SAMAA News Channel, was driving home after dropping off his children at school, when he saw the two men robbing a passerby.

Mateen tried to ram the thieves with his car but one of them escaped and shot him dead.

The killing of an honest newsman enraged Pakistanis as it was covered in great detail in the press and social media, putting the provincial Pakistan People Party-government in Sindh under immense pressure to respond.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had also condemned the “brutal murder” and directed law enforcers to take every possible step to bring the culprits to justice.

Last week, Balochistan Police confirmed to have nabbed the other accused from Khuzdar in Mateen’s death.