7th death anniversary: Remembering Irshad Mastoi and his two colleagues

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published August 28, 2021

ISLAMABAD—Exactly seven years ago, on August 28, 2014, three journalists— ARY News assignment editor and Online news agency bureau chief Irshad Mastoi (pictured), a trainee reporter Abdul Rasool Khajjak, and an accountant Muhammad Younas — were murdered by unidentified gunmen in Quetta.

On a fateful day, Mastoi, Khajjak, and Younas were working in the office in Quetta when two armed men with 9mm pistols barged into the office of Online and shot them several times.

Khajjak and Younas died on the spot while Mastoi was injured and died en route to the Civil Hospital. The initial examination had shown that the journalists suffered bullet wounds in the chest and head.

Khajjak was a final year student of Mass Communication at Balochistan University. He had completed a three-month internship in the news agency and was working as a reporter. Younas served as an accountant in the news agency for several years.

Mastoi’s colleagues had believed he was murdered because of his article on the eve of Baloch leader Nawaz Akbar Bugti’s eighth death anniversary. Some of his close friends, however, suspected the involvement of a politico-sectarian party in his killing because he did not publicize the party’s press releases and statements.

The case has been closed after two of the accused were reportedly killed in a police encounter. However, Mastoi’s family is seeking the support of media bodies for a reinvestigation, Pakistan Press Foundation noted.

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