KOHAT: The police have arrested PPP leader and former provincial minister Malik Amjid Afridi in Islamabad in connection with the recent murder of former district nazim Engineer Malik Asad.

Besides Afridi, PPP provincial information secretary Hussain Afridi, Hashim alias Sheeno, Gulzeb, Mohammad Gul, Amir, Yasir alias Gulo and Aitezaz were also nominated in the case.

District police officer Dr Zahidullah Khan told reporters on Thursday that four of the eight accused had been held, with the former minister remanded into custody for five days and others for one week.

He said that efforts were under way for the arrest of Asad’s nephew and another relative, as well as other accused.

The DPO said that Asad was killed on April 15, 2025, near a school in Rawalpindi after the killers chased him in a rented car.

He added that the deceased’s servant, Haleem of Charsadda, was injured in the gun attack.

Dr Khan said that one of the accused Amir was arrested at the Islamabad airport last week who admitted to the murder and named Amjid Afridi and four others as accomplices.

He said that names of the accused were put on the Exit Control List to prevent their escape from the country.

The DPO said that Amir had recorded a confessional statement with a judge, leading to arrests.

He said that the police would learn about the motive behind the murder only after mastermind Amjid Afridi was thoroughly interrogated.

Dr Khan said that the case suffered delays just because the police wanted to put up a “strong case based on merit.”

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2025