Cyprian’s murder mystery solved

* Police arrest three men, say one suspect still at large

Staff Report

LAHORE: A police investigation team solved the murder case of former federal minister Derrick Cyprian and arrested three suspects including a police inspector, the cousin of former Inspector General (Prisons) Salahuddin Niazi. A bank manager and a contract killer were also arrested while one suspect remains at large.

Investigation revealed that the accused had murdered Cyprian for Rs 13 million. The deceased’s brother Noel Cyprian had registered a case against the bank manager who withdrew the Rs 13 million from Cyprian’s account two days after he was kidnapped.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Chaudhry Shafqat Ahmad said the deceased, his daughter Hina and servant Robin Nizam had left his house on August 6. Derrick dropped them off on his way to Union Bank’s Defence Branch. Later, Noel came to Derrick’s house in his car, which had been parked outside the bank.

On August 7, Hina informed the police that her father had disappeared, on which the police started investigation. Manga Mandi police was informed by a passer-by that an unidentified body was lying in a drain. The police took the body to the city mortuary where Noel identified Derrick from the car keys and wallet.

On August 21, the Interior Ministry asked for a progress report from the police. In official correspondence, the ministry said that international communities were pressing the Foreign Affairs Department to solve the case. SSP Ahmad submitted a report to the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on August 22.

Meanwhile, Noel contacted the CIA’s investigation team and told them that Union Bank’s Defence Branch Manager Hamayun Nabeel had withdrawn Rs 13 million from Derrick’s account on August 8. Police interrogation revealed that Nabeel had a cheque of Rs 13 million of Derrick’s account dated August 6 and he had tampered with the cheque’s date and cashed it on August 8.

The SSP said that investigation further revealed that Nabeel and Inspector Ali Imran Niazi had masterminded the plan and hired two contract killers. On August 6, Nabeel called Derrick to the bank to evaluate a piece of land at Ferozepur Road. They asked Derrick to go with Niazi and the two contract killers to visit the land. The killers strangled Derrick while he was in the car, however the autopsy report showed that Derrick did not die of suffocation. He was still alive when the culprits tied his hands and threw him in a drain, Derrick died when mud and water went in his nose and mouth and stopped his breathing.

Ahmad said that Nabeel revealed this during investigation and the police arrested Niazi and Adnan Bashir from Sahiwal. Police also confiscated Rs 10.05 million from them. However, police sources claimed that there were loopholes in the story. They said that the culprits had a strong family background and Rs 13 million was not a huge amount for them.

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