Islamabad police arrest six new suspects in Noor Mukadam murder case

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad police on Sunday arrested six new suspects, including the owner of counselling center Therapy Works, over their alleged involvement in last month’s gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam.
Mukadam was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 sector on July 20 in a case that has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women. The victim was the daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, Pakistan’s former ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan.
Key suspect Zahir Jaffer, who is on judicial remand in Adiala Jail in Islamabad’s twin city of Rawalpindi, was arrested from the crime scene, his home, on the day of the murder. Last week, DNA tests conducted on clothes, the weapon of offense and other material collected from the crime scene confirmed Jaffer was the killer. On Monday, he will be presented before a judicial magistrate as police are scheduled to submit a detailed charge-sheet (challan) against him.
Jaffer was reportedly practicing as a psychotherapist after enrolling in a certification course from Therapy Works.
The persons arrested on Sunday are center’s owner Tahir Zahoor and his five employees. Inspector Abdul Sattar, who is investigating the case, presented them before Islamabad district magistrate Shehzad Khan who approved their one-day physical remand.
“Accused Tahir Zahoor was in contact with the parents of the accused (Zahir Jaffer), and as a result of that contact a team was sent to crime scene,” the court said in its order, referring to the Therapy Works employees.
While Zahoor’s counsel said the accused “is old age person and has no nexus with commission of the offense,” according to last month’s media reports, the Therapy Works team had reached the crime scene before police.
“The real facts are yet to be determined by the investigation in respect of the present accused persons and their role in the whole occurrence,” the court said.
Police said they will collect the suspects’ DNA samples for a forensic analysis.
According to court and police documents seen by Arab News, one of the arrested had been injured by Jaffer using a “blunt weapon” when the Therapy Works team arrived at the crime scene, and had to be hospitalized, but is now fit to join the investigation.
They will be presented before court on Monday.