Dubai: The man accused of kidnapping and murdering Canadian journalist Khadija Abdul Qahaar was killed in a police encounter in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Sanaullah Abbasi, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, revealed on Tuesday that Amin Shah, the main accused involved in abducting and killing the journalist was killed in a police encounter. Shah was a member of the banned militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He said the police along with personnel from the Counter Terrorism Department carried out the raid to apprehend a criminal identified as Amin Shah. Shah was accused of abducting the journalist in 2008 and demanding a ransom of $2 million (Dh7.36 million). He also stood accused of killing her in 2010, according to reports in Pakistan media.
“As soon as the police approached to arrest him, the acused opened fire at police team and was eventually killed in a retaliatory fire from the police personnel,” said Police Chief Abbasi. He added that one terrorist was killed and eight others were apprehended during separate raids carried out by law enforcement agencies on Tuesday.
Coverted to Islam
Abdul Qahaar, a Canadian journalist from British Columbia, was known as Beverly Giesbrecht before she converted to Islam. Qahaar along with her translator and guide was on her way to Miranshah in the hope of interviewing the local Taliban militants in North Waziristan in a taxi when unidentified armed men kidnapped her on November 12, 2008, according to The News.
A ransom was demanded by the TTP in North Waziristan. They threatened to kill her if their demands were not met. A video was released showing 56-year-old Khadija Abdul Qahaar making a plea to the authorities to rescue her. She was declared dead on November 4, 2010.
