KU professor gets death threats two days after assault

Police have arrested a man accused of threatening to kill University of Karachi's Department of Islamic Learning Chairman Dr Professor Arif Khan Saqi after allegedly demanding that he withdraw an assault case registered against him. According to police, a case was registered against Konain Gohar Ali Shah, son of Sindh Green Hotel's owner, at Sachal police station under Section 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 25-D of the Telegraph Act. In his complaint, Professor Saqi stated that Konain, along with his guards, had allegedly assaulted him on September 8. A separate case pertaining to the alleged assault of the professor and his nephew has also been registered at Sachal police station. Prof Saqi told police that he received a WhatsApp call from Konain at around 2pm on September 10. According to the complaint, the caller demanded that the professor withdraw the case registered against him. When Prof Saqi refused, Konain allegedly became enraged and threatened to kill him if he did not withdraw the case, besides warning him of serious consequences. The professor subsequently approached police and sought legal action against Konain. Police registered the case and arrested the nominated suspect later that night, officials said. Konain was subsequently handed over to the investigation wing for further questioning. Police sources said Konain and his associates were already facing the separate assault case involving Prof Saqi and his nephew. The accused had obtained pre-arrest bail in that case, sources added. Later in the day, a Malir judicial magistrate handed Konain over to police on a three-day physical remand in the death-threat case. Sachal police produced the accused before the court and sought his physical remand, saying he was required for interrogation and that the mobile phone allegedly used to issue the threats had to be recovered. The complainant's counsel informed the court that Konain had allegedly threatened Prof Saqi after securing interim bail in the earlier assault case. The lawyer said the police also needed to arrest the accused's other associates and recover a weapon in the main assault case.