ISLAMABAD: In a bid to further tighten the noose around the murderer of an ex-diplomat's daughter; Noor Mukadam, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Qazi Jamilur Rehman on Friday directed the investigation team to seek placement of suspect Zahir Jaffer's name on exit control list (ECL).
Noor Mukadam, 27, daughter of a former ambassador of Pakistan to South Korea and Kazakhstan Shaukat Mukadam, was found brutally murdered at a residence in upscale Sector F-7/4 on Tuesday by the son of a business tycoon Zakir Jaffer.
A statement issued by the police spokesman said that IGP, in a meeting with the investigation team, issued directives to recommend to the relevant authority to place the name of the alleged murderer on the no-fly list. IG Rehman also instructed the team to acquire Jaffer's criminal records from the United States and United Kingdom, and told them to approach the relevant authority to make it happen. He further issued directives to investigation team led SSP Investigation Attaur Rehman and ASP Kohsar Amna Baig to send the evidence collected from the crime scene for forensic analysis. The case should be concluded in light of concrete evidence at the earliest, he said, adding all the requirements for justice should be met so that the culprit be handed exemplary punishment.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) has demanded that the cases of violence and abuse against women and children be heard by anti-terrorism courts and a time limit be set for verdicts in such cases. The council urged Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed to take notice, and expressed its concern over the recent surge in cases of violence and abuse against women and children. "Cases such as Noor Mukadam and Usman Mirza bring disrepute to the country and the nation," the statement read, adding that such cases were an indication that terror, frustration and sexual violence were on the rise in society.
A first information report (FIR) was registered against Jaffer under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim's father late on Tuesday, after his arrest.
Later, police had obtained a three-day remand of the suspect from a local court, while officials had said they were investigating the suspect's motive for allegedly killing the woman.
In his complaint, Shaukat Mukadam had stated that he had gone to Rawalpindi on July 19 to buy a goat for Eidul Azha, while his wife had gone out to pick up clothes from her tailor. When he returned home in the evening, the couple found their daughter Noor absent from their house in Islamabad. They found her cellphone number to be switched off, and started a search for her. Sometime later, Noor called her parents to inform them that she was traveling to Lahore with some friends and would return in a day or two, according to the FIR. On Tuesday afternoon, the complainant said he received a call from Zahir, son of Zakir Jaffer, whose family was the ex-diplomat's acquaintances. Zahir informed Mukadam that Noor was not with him, the FIR said.
At around 10pm the same day, the victim's father received a call from Kohsar police station, informing him that Noor had been murdered.
Police subsequently took the complainant to Zahir's house in Sector F-7/4 where he discovered that his "daughter has been brutally murdered with a sharp-edged weapon and beheaded", according to the FIR.
Mukadam, who identified his daughter's body, sought the exemplary punishment under the law against Zahir for allegedly murdering his daughter. Police had initially said the victim was shot at before being "slaughtered". Another person was also injured in the incident.
However, the investigation officer of the case said on Thursday that while a pistol had been found at the suspect's house, the initial investigation and medical report did not show a firearm injury in the incident. He added that a bullet was stuck in the pistol's chamber at the time it was recovered. He said the servants present in the house at the time of the incident had also been included in the investigation and were being questioned on various points such as the duration for which Noor was present in the suspect's house.
A day ago, speaking at a presser, the investigation team led by SSP investigation and ASP Kohsar Amna Baig, said: "Zahir Jaffer, the suspect in the brutal murder of the daughter of an ex-diplomat was completely sound and in his senses when arrested from the murder scene". To a question, the SSP said the suspect might have had (may have had) a past history of taking drugs but at least at this time [while committing the crime] he was completely in his senses. He emphasized that police were focusing on the suspect's "mental frame of mind" and that initial findings indicated the suspect was completely aware of his actions when he allegedly committed the murder.
Regarding his mental health history, he said that the police investigation "has nothing to do with that" and was being pursued from the angle of whether the act was justified or not - "which it completely wasn't".
The SSP said that the suspect was tied with ropes by some people whom he had attacked after killing Noor, before police arrived at the scene.
Police had initially said the victim was shot at before being "slaughtered". Another person was also injured in the incident.
Rehman said the servants present in the house at the time of the incident had also been included in the investigation and were being questioned on various points such as the duration for which Noor was present in the suspect's house. Citing the statement of the servants, the SSP said they had heard the noise of a quarrel between Noor and the suspect. But it needed to be determined whether the servants knew the fight would end up in murder, he added. He told the presser that the inspector general of police had visited the victim's family and the crime scene, and that he had constituted a special team for the case - led by SSP Rehman himself.
"The special team was made because this case is very important for us," he said, stressing that police were "standing with the aggrieved family, and getting them every kind of justice is our duty and responsibility".
To a question, Rehman said that "whenever someone's brutal murder is carried out then we shouldn't care about the financial position of the culprit even if they are the son of a very influential father".
When asked about reports of other complaints against the suspect on social media, the SSP urged those people to come forward and inform the police.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked IGP Islamabad "not to make any concessions" while probing the murder of Noor Mukadam.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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