LAHORE:In a dramatic twist in the Ameer Balaj murder case, one of the prime suspects - notorious underworld figure Khwaja Aqeel alias Gogi Butt - appeared before Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Bilal Siddique Kamyana on Tuesday, claiming that he was falsely implicated due to a decades-old family feud.

The other prime suspect and another don of the crime world, Khwaja Tareef Gulshan alias Teefi Butt, is still at large and the federal government has already issued red warrants for him, reportedly hiding in an African country and police have declared him a proclaimed offender in the Ameer Balaj murder case.

An official privy to the investigations told Dawn that Gogi Butt visited the office of CCPO and met him after joining the investigations in the [Balaj] murder case.

Gogi Butt meets CCPO, claiming he was with friends and was falsely implicated due to feud with Teefi family

He said the suspect in his written statement submitted earlier to the investigation team claimed that he was not present at the crime scene at the time Balaj was alleged shot dead by armed men.

He further claimed that he was with his friends and had nothing to do with the murder.

Gogi Butt was nominated in the gruesome killing of young Balaj, the son of Arif Ameer alias Tipu Truckanwala.

The official said Arif Ameer was allegedly murdered by armed men at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore a decade back.

At that time Gogi Butt was also nominated in the murder of Arif following the two decades-long old rivalry between the two families from the Walled City of Lahore.

The enmity had begun for the first time when Balaj’s grandfather Ameeruddin alias Billa Truckanwala was allegedly shot dead in 1998.

The official said Billa Truckanwala, the owner of goods transport in Lahore, had also been in the crime world in the past.

The war of gangsters re-visited the city in February 2024 when the goods transport network owner Ameer Balaj (30) was allegedly shot dead at a wedding ceremony in Chuhng area.

The investigations and the FIR brought to the limelight some key players including Teefi Butt and Gogi Butt and Balaj’s family nominated them besides some others suspects in his murder case.

Investigations into Balaj’s killing shocked his family when it emerged that a close confidant, Ahsan Shah, had allegedly conspired with the gang behind the murder.

The official said Ahsan Shah was allegedly shot dead in an encounter with the then Organised Crime Unit of the Lahore police in August 2024.

The police authorities had claimed that Shah was killed when the OCU police were taking him to a location in Shadbagh area in connection with the investigation of the case, when the suspect’s brother, along with unidentified armed men, attacked the team.

The official said Gogi Butt, who was declared an absconder in his case, had recently returned to the country from abroad, probably getting some assurance from the top authorities that he would be given a ‘fair’ trial.

The official said the murder suspect had ‘strong’ links with the ruling PML-N [being a resident of Gawalmandi] where he spent most of his life. He later shifted to the Canal View Society new Thokar Niaz Beg.

He first secured his pre-arrest bail from the court on Aug 8 and then joined the investigations into the Balaj murder case.

Headed by Saddar Division investigation SP Mian Muazzam Ali, the team comprised two DSPs and inspectors.

The team will resume the investigation here on Wednesday (today).

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2025