Zulfiqar Ahmad
Islamabad, July 3, 2026: The Upper Chitral police’s claim of having arrested the prime suspect in the murder of a woman in Brep’s Jinlasht area has been challenged by local sources.
The sources told ChitraToday that the suspect had voluntarily surrendered, raising questions about the credibility of the official account.
According to sources, the suspect, Zaman Ali Baig, surrendered to the police on Thursday evening, a day after the shooting.
However, the police issued an official statement claiming that a special investigation team had arrested the alleged killer and recovered the weapon used in the crime.
The discrepancy has drawn criticism from local residents, who alleged that the police had attempted to portray a voluntary surrender as the outcome of a successful operation.
According to the police, the attack took place on the night of July 1 in Brep’s Jinlasht locality, where Bulbul Azam and his wife, Shahida Bibi, were returning home from Jamat Khana after offering prayers when they came under gunfire. Shahida Bibi died at the scene, while her husband sustained serious injuries.
The police said officers reached the scene, collected evidence and shifted the body to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Booni for a post-mortem examination.
District Police Officer (DPO) Upper Chitral Hamidullah supervised the legal formalities, according to a statement posted on the district police’s official Facebook page.
An FIR (No 24), dated July 2, was registered at Mastuj police station under Sections 302 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code against unidentified suspects, and an investigation was launched.
The police said the injured complainant subsequently nominated Zaman Ali Baig, son of Roziman Baig and a resident of Jinlasht, Brep, as the alleged assailant.
In its statement, the police further claimed that, on the directions of the DPO and SP Investigation Ajmal Khan, a special team led by SDPO Mastuj Akbar Shah arrested the suspect and recovered the alleged murder weapon.
However, local sources disputed the police version, maintaining that the suspect had already surrendered before any police action or formal arrest took place, casting doubt on the police claim of an organised arrest operation, which they said appeared to be an attempt to project the incident as a policing success rather than a voluntary surrender.
They questioned why the police had described the surrender as an arrest, saying the official statement appeared intended to project an investigative success rather than accurately reflect the circumstances in which the accused came into police custody.
In its statement, the police further claimed that, during preliminary questioning, the suspect said he believed the deceased and her husband had played a role in his former wife’s obtaining khula, prompting him to open fire on the couple.
Further investigation is under way.
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