KARACHI: A senior retired journalist Zeba Burney, wife of late journalist Naeem Qamar from Nawa-i-Waqt newspaper, was found dead inside her flat in Khudadad Colony Monday morning, informed Jamshed SP Dr Rizwan Ahmed said.
Zeba had been murdered during Eid holidays in the city, stated police officials the other day.
The body was later shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where doctors claimed the case to be murder since the deceased has signs of strangulation on her neck. Moreover, the police added that that the victim’s brother residing in the Federal B Area was approached but he appeared reluctant to pursue the case.
The senior police official said an investigation officer of the case had been sent to her brother’s home again the other day for lodging a case.
On Wednesday night, the Brigade police registered a murder case against unidentified suspects on the complaint of the victim’s brother, Fakhrul Hasan.
As per initial investigation reports, SP Rizwan suggested that the murder was not related to any attempted robbery.
Brigade SHO Javed said that it seemed that the incident had taken place on Chand Raat, but police had been informed about it by her neighbour at around 10.30am on Monday.
Zeba had been living alone after the death of her husband several years ago. A sister of Burney, who was living with her, had also passed away a few years ago, said the police officer.
A formal investigation will be launched once the post-mortem report is available.
Sources at the police surgeon office said there was an extreme shortage of female medico-legal officers in three major government hospitals – JPMC, Civil Hospital Karachi and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital – where only three such MLOs performed the duty.
The Karachi Union of Journalists have severely condemned the murder of the senior journalist and have urged the Sindh chief minister, home minister to ensure that the accused are promptly arrested.
Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal taking notice of the murder has sought a detailed report from DIG East Zone Arif Hanif, a spokesperson for the provincial government informed.
