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
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
