Driver arrested for murder of famous Pak painter

Karachi, Feb.17 : Karachi Police have arrested the driver of Pakistan's noted artist Gulgee after he confessed to murdering the latter, his wife Zarin Gulgee and maid Aasia.

According to The News, staff of the Anti Violent Crime Unit (AVCU) captured two suspects, one of whom was the deceased artist's driver. The AVCU also recovered looted cash and precious paintings of the deceased Guljee from the suspects.

Gulgee and his wife, along with their maid, were strangled to death by unidentified men in their house situated in the Boat Basin police limits on December 19, 2007.

The bodies found were three days old while the driver and a servant had gone missing along with a car belonging to the deceased.

The Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of Sindh constituted a team to investigate the case, and during the course of the investigation, a tip was received regarding the presence of the suspects at a local hotel near the Karachi Cantonement Station.

A raid was ordered on the premises and the two suspects were nabbed. They have been identified as Akram Ali and Mohammed Anwer.

During his interrogation, Akram Ali disclosed that he was hired as a driver by Gulgee on December 2 and that during his few days' tenure, he saw millions of rupees in cash in the house. Later, he said, he called his friend Anwer from Lahore and also had him appointed as a servant in the house.

Together, they had made a plan to rob the house and, on December 13-14, when Gulgee and his wife went to the Boat Club for dinner, they entered the house to execute their plan.

As soon as Gulgee returned home, they put a sheet over his head after which Anwer hit his head with a hard blunt weapon. They then searched for his wife, who was present in the kitchen, and also killed her.

They were able to gather Rs0.3 million and some jewellery. However, they were not satisfied with this, and decided to wait till the next day for the maid Asiya. On December 14, when Asiya entered the house, they took her hostage and asked her where the rest of the money was kept. She was unable to inform them, on which they killed her as well and drove off in their car and later abandoned it in Darakhshan and went to Lahore.

During his stay in Lahore, Ali sold the stolen jewellery and some paintings. The PPO said a raiding team was dispatched for the recovery of the sold paintings. A further probe is on.

ANI