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KARACHI: Two brothers were arrested Wednesday on charges of murdering designer Sheikh-Amer Hassan, who they alleged attempted to rape one of them.
Cell phone records helped the police trace Hassan’s last calls on Saturday, the night of his murder, leading to the arrests of 19-year-old Saad Awan and his 23-year-old brother Hamza Awan. Both young men are BCom students at a local college and are residents of PECHS. Station Investigation Officer (SIO) Aurangzaib Khan told Daily Times that the last number dialed on Hassan’s cell phone was Saad’s number.
Quoting Saad, SIO Khan said that he and Hassan met at a fashion show at FTC building in 2005; Hassan appreciated Saad’s skills and told him he was a “brilliant and talented boy” who he would “take ahead”. Saad told the police that he and his elder brother stayed in touch with Hassan via email and on the cell phone.
The night of the murder, Hassn phoned Saad with the news that he had found him a job as a personal assistant to a fashion designer friend. According to what Saad told the police, Hassan invited him to his flat to meet the friend, who was waiting.
Saad reached Hassan’s flat between 3:00 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. but found that Hassan was alone. He told the police that Hassan gave him juice to drink, which he says had some “drug” in it. Saad then told the police that Hassan tried to rape him. He fled from the scene and sought his brother’s help. The two returned to Hassan’s flat with their father’s shotgun. In order to convince Hassan to open the door, Saad told the police he sent a text message to him saying: “I am willing to do what you wanted.”
The two entered Hassan’s home and beat him up, said the SIO. “I think he died when we tied his neck with the wire,” said Saad in his statement to the police. Then they shot him.
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