The four accused in American Journalist Daniel Pearl murder case were arrested again on Thursday by Sindh police in compliance with the provincial Home Department’s order, that was issued a few hours after the announcement of Sindh High Court (SHC)’s verdict in the case.
Earlier on Thursday, SHC had commuted the death sentence of the prime accused Omer Saeed to seven years, and acquitted three other convicts in a case pertaining to the abduction and murder of the then bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl in 2002.
According to a news report published in The Express Tribune, the order reads that DIG CIA Sindh police wrote a letter to the provincial Home Department, informing it that the release of the four accused would create serious law and order situation in the province, therefore, they should be detained for three months.
“The Sindh government on the basis of request and considering the merit of the case is satisfied that there is serious apprehensions of public safety in case the accused are released that they may act against the interest of the country and public,” the order stated.
In exercise of power under section 3 (1) of West Pakistan of Maintenance Public Order Ordinance 1960, all the four accused Ahmed Qamar Sheikh, Fahad Nasim Ahmed, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil were detained for a period of three months from the date of arrest.
Daniel Pearl, 38, was abducted in Karachi in January 2002 while researching a story about religious extremists in Karachi.
The investigation, led by Pearl’s friend and former The Wall Street Journal colleague Asra Nomani claimed that the reporter was murdered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks — not Omer Saeed Sheikh.