Awaz TV reporter Muhammad Bachal Ghunio was shot dead by at least seven unidentified assailants one morning in a field near his home. CPJ was unable to determine the reason for his killing.
Ghunio’s brother Sachal Ghunio told the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) that he was with the journalist and several others that morning as they went to the fields. Sachal Ghunio said that the attacker arrived and “shot at Bachal after stating that he had posted about dacoits [armed robbers] living in the katcha [riverine] areas,” PPF reported.
The investigating police officer Abdul Shakoor Lakho also told the PPF that he believed the journalist was killed over his reporting on robbers in the riverine area where he lived.
The Express Tribune reported that Ghunio’s family believed he was killed for his professional work, without providing further details.
The outlet also raised the possibility that a family dispute may have been the motive for Ghunio’s killing. Relatives blamed Ghunio for the suicide of a young man two years ago, after the journalist reported him to the police, it said. The online outlet Dawn cited a police officer as saying that Ghunio was killed over an old family feud.
The day after Ghunio’s death, the police carried out several raids, arrested a suspect, and recovered a weapon from him, Dawn reported.
Sindh police chief, Ghulam Nabi Memon, told CPJ via messaging app that Ghunio was “murdered due to an old personal enmity,” with one suspect under arrest while seven others had yet to be arrested.