Extension in remand: Court turns down investigation officer’s plea

Both sides accuse each another of coercing police investigation.

RAWALPINDI: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday declined a request by the police to extend physical remand of four men arrested in connection with an alleged murder during the local bodies elections in Rawalpindi.

The court turned down the Saddar Bairuni police’s request for extending physical remand of suspects who allegedly murdered  Shoaib Iqbal Raja, a nephew of former Punjab law minister Muhammad Basharat Raja.

Special Judge ATC-II Asif Majeed Awan sent Asad Mahmood, the PML-N candidate for chairman in Union Council-86 Dhamial, his father Jan Nisar alias Saleem Numberdar, Advocate Adil Rehman, and Raja Umer Abbasi to Adiala Jail on judicial remand till February 3.

Inspector Mirza Shafique, a member of a joint investigation team probing the case, made a request for 10 more days of physical custody to recover weapons from them.

Opposing the police’s request, Advocate Sajjad Akbar Abbasi, representing the accused, said his client had been in police custody for 40 days.

The defence said that the family of the former minister had been trying to influence the investigation.

In his arguments, Advocate Malik Waheed Anjum, representing the complainant, said Muhammad Basharat Raja was law minister during the PML-Q government almost a decade back, and could therefore not influence the police today. He maintained that the accused men belong to the ruling party and that they hail from the constituency of the incumbent interior minister.

He claimed that the accused were influencing the police, citing that the authorities had failed to recover the murder weapon from the suspects, despite having them in custody for 40 days.

Shoaib was shot dead outside a polling station on December 5, 2015 over a dispute that emerged on election day during the local body polls in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2016.