Journo Shahzad's laptop, mobile, emails missing

The inquiry commission probing the murder of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad on Tuesday informed that his laptop computer, mobile phone and email records were missing.

This was disclosed to the media by officials of the commission, which met in the Supreme Court building. The panel, chaired by Supreme Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar, directed the police chiefs of Punjab province and Islamabad to continue their investigation into the crime.

Police officials presented the FIR and other records regarding the crime to the commission.

Senior journalist Hamid Mir and Zafar Shaikh, a friend of Shahzad, recorded their statements. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists president Pervaiz Shaukat, a member of the commission, told reporters that authorities had approached companies to laying their hands on the email data.

He said the commission was fulfilling all its legal requirements and efforts were being made to trace out Shahzad's cellular phone and laptop.

The Commission will meet again on Wednesday and four journalists, including Najam Sethi and Mehar Bukhari, are expected to record their statements, he said.

Shahzad was abducted while driving from his house to a TV station in Islamabad on May 29, two days after he alleged in an article that Al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy. His body, bearing marks of torture, was found the next day in a canal in Punjab province.

Journalists' associations and rights groups alleged intelligence agencies were responsible for the killing, a charge denied by the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence. Shahzad had also told colleagues about receiving veiled threats from the ISI.