Summary of case

Royal News TV reporter Ajay Lalwani was murdered in Sukkur city of the Sindh province on March 18, 2021. According to Dawn, armed men opened fire on the journalist while he was at a barber shop. Lalwani was injured and taken to the Civil Hospital in Sukkur where he died while under treatment. The suspects fled the scene. Speaking to PPF, a senior journalist and a friend of Lalwani’s, Sahil Jogi, said that he had gone to meet the deceased journalist at the hospital. Lalwani told him that he was at a barber shop when two armed men on a motorbike came and shot him. He said that he had not covered any controversial or sensitive story nor did he have any personal issues with anyone. President of Sukkur Press Club Mr. Nasrullah told PPF that according to Lalwani’s family he neither had personal conflicts nor had he covered any controversial news. “We don’t know about anything,” he quoted them saying. Nasrullah said that Lalwani’s family was unwilling to speak about the case due to fear. “They don’t want their family to be in any harm as they already lost their son Ajay. It means an influential person is involved in killing.” “We found some controversial posts on Ajay’s social media timeline, maybe that would be the reason,” Nasrullah added Saleh Pat Police Station Station House Officer Ashiq Meerani said a First Information Report (FIR) had been registered against three unknown assailants. The police said an investigation was underway to trace the killers and to uncover their motives. According to the preliminary investigation, the police attributed the murder to a personal rivalry. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah ordered the provincial Inspector General of Police to form a joint investigation team to investigate the murder Saleh Pat Press Club General Secretary Naresh Kumar told PPF that Laalwani was “the most active and passionate journalist. He never refused to cover any sensitive issue.” He said that Lalwani used to post on social media about controversial cases related to the police and politicians. He had also attended all protests against the death of Sindh University student Irfan Jatoi. Head of the investigation team Station House Officer Zulfiqar Chanchar told PPF on March 29 that the accused in the murder has been arrested from Saleh Pat, Sukkur. Chanchar said that the mastermind behind the murder, Raza Shah, had given Rs200,000 to the accused Jamil Shah, Akbar Mangrio and Mirani for Lalwani’s murder. Lalwani’s father Dileep Kumar expressed dissatisfaction with the members of the investigation team and a fair investigation officer so that he could share the details with them. Following concerns raised by Lalwani’s father, the investigation was handed over from the Sukkur Police to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kashmore-Kandhkot Amjad Shaikh, who submitted an interim charge sheet against the accused in a local court in Sukkur

Updates

In May 2023, Lalwani’s father told PPF that in the last court hearing on May 29, no legal counsel from accusers had shown up in the court. He alleged that they were using delaying tactics in order to shut the case.
Five main culprits have been arrested by the police, including Jameel Shah, Raza Shah, Ghulam Mustafa Mirani, Janib Mirani, and Ghulam Akbar, of the arrested, only Akbar is in jail, while the four others were granted pre-arrest bail.
Lalwani’s legal representative told PPF that Inayat Shah, Ehsan Shah and Station House Officer Ashiq Mirani were released by the Anti Terrorism Court in 2021. The next court proceeding is set for June 21.
The next court proceeding is set for August 8, 2023.