ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad on Monday extended until August 30 the judicial remand of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the principal accused in last month’s gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam, as the police failed to submit a charge-sheet (challan) against him and others involved in the case.
The court also sent the owner of counseling center Therapy Works Tahir Zahoor and his five employees to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on 14-day judicial remand.
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.
The 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. He had reportedly been practicing as a psychotherapist after enrolling in a certification course with Therapy Works. Police say a team from the counselling center was already at the crime scene when they arrived on July 20, having been summoned by Jaffer’s parents, who are also under arrest.
Islamabad police on Monday brought Jaffer to the Islamabad district courts where judicial magistrate Saqib Jawad marked his attendance through a court order. The accused was kept in judicial lockup in the court and not presented before the judge. Later, the court extended his judicial remand till August 30.
The police did not submit a detailed charge-sheet in the court today, Monday, saying the investigation of at least nine suspects in the case was still underway.
The judicial magistrate on Monday allowed police to conduct a DNA test of Zahir Jaffer’s two employees, a security guard and cook, who were present in the house on the day of the murder.
Meanwhile, the court rejected a bail plea by Therapy Works owner Zahoor, saying the offenses mentioned against him in the supplementary statement were non-bailable.
“Accused Tahir Zahoor was in contact with the parents of the accused and as a result of that contact a team was sent to the crime scene,” the court said in its order on Sunday, referring to the Therapy Works’ employees.
Inspector Abdul Sattar, who is investigating the case, told the court on Monday the five arrested employees of Therapy Works had admitted during interrogation that they were sent to Jaffer home on July 20 by their boss, Tahir Zahoor. The call detail record has also confirmed the presence of the team at the crime scene, he said.
A doctor will now collect the blood samples of Zahoor and his employees and dispatch them to the Punjab Forensic Sciences Agency in Lahore for DNA tests.
Last week, DNA tests conducted on clothes, the weapon of offense and other material collected from the crime scene confirmed Jaffer was the killer.
Court extends judicial remand of Zahir Jaffer till Aug 30 in Noor Mukadam case
https://arab.news/ytcf2
Court extends judicial remand of Zahir Jaffer till Aug 30 in Noor Mukadam case
- Sends owner of Therapy Works and his five employees to Adiala Jail on 14-day judicial remand
- Allows police to conduct DNA test of Jaffer’s security guard and cook who were present at house on day of the murder
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
