ISLAMABAD: Citing concerns of possible obstruction of justice, the Islamabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a bail plea by the parents of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the prime suspect in July’s gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam.
Mukadam, 27, 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. Police arrested Jaffer from the crime scene on the day of the murder. Jaffer’s parents and a cook, gardener and a security guard at the Jaffer home are also under arrest and being investigated on various charges, including abetment and concealment of evidence.
The parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, had made a bail appeal with the IHC after it was rejected by a district court last month.
“The case is almost ripe for trial, hence there is every likelihood that if they are enlarged on bail they might obstruct the course of justice, tamper with the prosecution evidence and/or try to influence the trial,” Judge Aamer Farooq said in the IHC’s decision.
A local court in Islamabad said last week that it will frame by October 6 charges against all suspects, including the prime suspect’s parents, their household staff and six employees of Therapy Works, an Islamabad-based counselling facility, who reached the crime scene on the request of Jaffer’s father to “conceal the crime and destroy the evidence,” according to a detailed charge sheet filed by police investigators and seen by Arab News.
The IHC has directed the court to conclude the trial within two months.
“Since the trial is about to commence as it is expected that on 06.10.2021 the charge shall be framed,” the court order said. “The learned Trial Court is directed to conclude the trial expeditiously preferably within eight weeks from the framing of charge.”
High court denies bail to parents of prime suspect in Noor Mukadam murder
https://arab.news/86y93
High court denies bail to parents of prime suspect in Noor Mukadam murder
- Islamabad High Court directs trial court to conclude its proceedings within two months
- Trial in the murder case is scheduled to commence on October 6
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.
