In a stunning turn of events, the prime suspect in the murder case of Lahore’s leading political and business figure Amir Balaj Tipu, Ahsan Shah, was killed at the hands of his own associates while in police custody.
All this happened late Friday night when Lahore Police were taking Shah to the Shad Bagh area for recovery.
According to official reports, when the police convoy was entering Shad Bagh, a group of Shah’s associates waylaid the policemen to make a brazen attempt at freeing him.
Though the police personnel had managed to flee without any injury, Ahsan Shah got badly injured in the cross-firing. He succumbed to his injuries despite being rushed to a hospital.
Ahsan Shah had been arrested some months before for his alleged involvement in the killing of his friend, Amir Balaj Tipu, on February 19, 2024.
The incident occurred at a wedding ritual where Tipu had been shot dead in gunfire. Two others were injured when one of the attackers, Muzaffar Hussain, was killed on the spot by Tipu’s security detail.
The murder case, which was registered on the complaint of Amir Balaj’s brother, Amir Musab, nominated Khawaja Tareef Gulshan alias Teefi Butt, his cousin Khawaja Aqeel and four unidentified persons as suspects.
The death of Ahsan Shah, the primary accused, complicates the investigation further as the law enforcement agencies will have to knit together the pieces of motives behind this latest episode of violence.