KP Police arrest alleged killer of VOA correspondent

JournalismPakistan.com | Published 10 years ago

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have arrested an alleged killer of Voice of America’s Deewa Radio correspondent Mukarram Khan Aatif along with two of his accomplices in Charsadda.

The suspect has been identified as Irfan Khurasani. The police also claimed to have seized 100 kilograms of explosives from the vehicle the accused were travelling in.

Mohammad Saeed Wazir, Deputy Inspector General of Mardan region, told VOA Deewa Radio that Khurasani was wanted in numerous cases including attacks on schools, security forces and killing of the journalist Aatif.

The journalist was gunned down on Jan 17, 2012 while he was offering his evening prayers at a local mosque near his home in the town of Shabqadar. He had faced repeated threats from the militants and Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing.

Aatif had been working for the VOA since 2006.

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