peshawar   -   A transgender person, who had been killed recently in a target killing in Mardan district, was in fact not the actual target but his fellow was the target of the killers, police said.

District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Zahidullah said that soon after the murder of Sadiq alias Coconut, he formed an investigation team led by SP Investigation Sanaullah Khan and SP operation Muhammad Qais, who worked out the case and arrested the killers.

The officer said that the arrest of Shah Zeb and Atif, residents of Mardan district, and Asadullah, a resident of Swabi district, became possible after investigation was conducted on scientific lines.

Shah Zeb confessed before the cops during investigation that another transgender Salman alias Warha had lodged a report in police station against him, which is why he wanted to take revenge on her for “causing disrepute to him via police case.”

Salman told police that for revenge, he paid money to target killers, who fired at a vehicle in which Salman (Warha) and Sadiq (Coconut) were travelling; however, Salman got injured and mistakenly Coconut was shot dead in the attack.

It merits a mention here that recently in Peshawar too, a transgender was killed by her boyfriend, who is called “Marakh” in the trans language. In most of the cases, boyfriends are involved in the murders of the trans, according to police investigators who have probed such cases.

“When a transgender person develops affair or relationship with someone else, her Marakh in most cases considers it a matter of honour; thus he kills the transperson ‘for honour’,” said an official.