ISLAMABAD: A party rival was behind the recent murder of a Sikh lawmaker in Pakistan's northwest, the police said, dismissing a Taliban claim of responsibility for the crime.

Sardar Suran Singh, 50, a lawmaker from Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, was gunned down on Friday in his hometown of Buner in Malakand region in the northwest. Singh was a minority affairs adviser to the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The Taliban had earlier claimed responsibility for the murder. But the police arrested five people who killed Singh after his political rival from the minority Sikh community in the region, Baldev Kumar, paid them Rs 10 lakh for the crime. The police arrested Baldev, a fellow PTI leader, on Sunday. "Baldev wanted to contest the election, but could not get a party ticket. This led him to plan the murder," police said.



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