'I’ll take care of it': Father of murder suspect tried to dispose of Noor Mukadam body

Women rights activists hold placards during a demonstration in Lahore on July 24, 2021, against the brutal killing of Noor Mukadam in Islamabad. (AFP/File)
Short Url
Updated 13 September 2021
Follow

'I’ll take care of it': Father of murder suspect tried to dispose of Noor Mukadam body

  • Police charge sheet says Zahir Zakir Jaffer's parents 'abetted in the murder' and tried to destroy evidence
  • Trial in the July 20 beheading of Noor Mukadam is scheduled to begin on Sept. 23

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Islamabad police investigators have revealed the father of Zahir Zakir Jaffer — the prime suspect in July's gruesome beheading of Noor Mukadam — has tried to destroy the evidence of murder and dispose of the victim's body.

Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 neighborhood on July 20 in a case that has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women.

Jaffer was arrested from the crime scene on the day of the murder. He was initially on police remand but was moved to Adiala Jail in the city of Rawalpindi on judicial remand in early August. His parents, Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee, and three members of household staff are also under arrest for a range of charges in relation to the case.

According a detailed charge sheet filed against him by police investigators, Jaffer was in touch with his parents before and after the crime and had they informed the police in time, it could have been avoided. The charge sheet says the Jaffers had, instead, "abetted in the murder" and tried to cover it up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” the charge sheet quotes Jaffer's father as telling him after Mukadam's beheading. “Our people are coming, they will take you out from there and dispose of the body."

A five-member team of counselling center Therapy Works, where Jaffer enrolled in a certification course to practice as a psychotherapist, reached the crime scene on Jaffer father's request to “conceal the crime and destroy the evidence.”

The arrival of Therapy Works workers confused Zahir and he stabbed one them. The man, later identified as Amjad Mahmood, was admitted in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, where he told the doctors that he was injured in a road accident.

“This all was an attempt to hide the evidence in the murder,” the police charge sheet said.

Mukadam came to Zahir’s home on July 18, according to the document. She tried to leave the place twice, the charge sheet said, but Jaffer's household staff were ordered not to let anyone out of the residence. Jaffer’s security guard and gardener did not let her open the main gate.

“The suspect had directed his household staff including the security guard not to let anybody inside or go outside the home." After she tried to flee, he dragged her back inside the house. He also raped her, the police charge sheet said.

"A DNA report confirmed the accused had raped the victim … the forensic report confirmed the victim was not drugged or poisoned."

Investigators said they are still waiting to receive forensic reports based on data from Jaffer's phone and laptop from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Jaffer's trial was scheduled for Sept. 8, but the court adjourned it until Sept. 23.
 


Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate

Updated 26 February 2026
Follow

Pakistan says responding to Afghan ‘offensive operations’ after border fire as tensions escalate

  • Afghan Taliban spokesperson says “large-scale offensive operations” launched against Pakistani military bases
  • Pakistan says Afghan forces opened “unprovoked” fire across multiple sectors along shared border

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities said on Thursday they had launched “large-scale offensive operations” against Pakistani military bases and installations, prompting Pakistan to say its forces were responding to what it described as unprovoked fire along the shared border.

The escalation follows Islamabad’s weekend airstrikes targeting what it said were Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh militant camps inside Afghanistan in response to a wave of recent bombings and attacks in Pakistan. Islamabad said the strikes killed over 100 militants, while Kabul said dozens of civilians were killed and condemned the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty.

In a post on social media platform X, Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Afghanistan had launched “large-scale offensive operations” in response to repeated violations by the Pakistani military.

 

 

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said Afghan forces had initiated hostilities along multiple points of the frontier.

“Afghan Taliban regime unprovoked action along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border given an immediate, and effective response,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said Pakistani forces were targeting Taliban positions in the Chitral, Khyber, Mohmand, Kurram and Bajaur sectors, claiming heavy Afghan casualties and the destruction of multiple posts and equipment. It added that Pakistan would take all necessary measures to safeguard its territorial integrity and the security of its citizens.

 

 

Separately, security officials said Pakistani forces had carried out counterattacks in several border sectors.

“Pakistan’s security forces are giving a befitting reply to the unprovoked Afghan aggression with full force,” a security official said, declining to be named. 

“The Pakistani security forces’ counter-attack destroyed Taliban’s hideouts and the Khawarij fled,” they added, referring to TTP militants. 

The claims from both sides could not be independently verified.

Cross-border violence has intensified in recent weeks, with Pakistan blaming a surge in suicide bombings and militant attacks on militants it says are based in Afghanistan. Kabul denies providing safe havens to anti-Pakistan militant groups.

The clashes mark the third major escalation between the neighbors in less than a year. Similar Pakistani strikes last year triggered weeklong clashes before Qatar, Türkiye and other regional actors mediated a ceasefire in October.

The 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) frontier, a key trade and transit corridor linking Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan and onward to Central Asia, has faced repeated closures amid tensions, disrupting commerce and humanitarian movement. Trade between the two nations has remained closed since October 2025.