The CBI on Sunday confiscated the .315 bore country-made single-shot pistol and the empty cartridge of the bullet used to kill RTI activist Shehla Masood from the residence of Saqib Ali ‘Danger’.
The cartridge was found stuck in the barrel. The pistol was recovered from the nesting boxes for pigeons located at the roof of Saqib’s house on the basis of information provided by his cousin Tabiz. He will be produced before the court on Monday.
Investigations revealed that Tabiz who was living with Saqib from August 9 to 20 was involved in the entire plot.
Shehla was shot in the neck at pointblank range while starting her car outside her house on August 16. During autopsy, a 3.5 cm long bullet weighing around 16g was found lodged in her neck. Ballistic investigations confirmed that the bullet was fired from a .315 bore country-made pistol. The bullet pierced her wind-pipe and got lodged in her back.
“Despite being fired from a close range the bullet traveled only a short distance, as it had a technical snag,” said CBI officials. Neither Imran nor Tabiz, who knew how to handle firearms, could remove the cartridge which got stuck in the barrel after the first shot.
Imran allegedly confessed that he had fired the shot pulling the trigger using fingers of both hands. The accused also said they had escaped from the spot without even ensuring that Shehla was dead.
Sample of blood stains found on the barrel of the seized pistol and Imran’s shirt will be sent for forensic analysis to corroborate the evidence. “He was wearing a full sleeves shirt at the time of murder. The shirt with splashes of blood has been recovered,” said a CBI officer.
The empty cartridge will also be sent for forensic analysis to confirm whether the bullet taken out of Shehla’s body had been fired from the confiscated pistol. A bike, and car used in the murder plot was also confiscated close to Saqib’s residence. Officials claim that investigation into the Shehla Masood murder is almost complete with seizure of the weapon of crime.
