Fahad Malik murder: Police accused of leaving key evidence out of investigation

Petitioner challenges prosecution regarding finger prints, asks for FSL report to be produced


Rizwan Shehzad September 23, 2016
Siddiqi requested the IHC to direct the police to obtain the FSL report and present it before a magistrate in the presence of the suspect and his counsel. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: The murder of Barrister Fahad Malik took a new turn on Friday when the prime suspect, Raja Arshad Mehmood, accused the police of excluding important evidence out of the investigation.

He also accused the police of giving benefit to the complainant of the case.

Mehmood, through his counsel Muhammad Ilyas Siddiqi, filed four separate applications with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday claiming that that the police was not collecting crucial evidence in the case which would help determine how the murder took place.

Siddiqi said clues needed to answer “who the aggressor was, how long the occurrence took place for and who had initiated it,” were being left out of the investigation deliberately.

On Friday, Justice Noorul Haq Qureshi ordered Shalimar police station SHO to appear in person before the court along with a record of the case on September 29.

Lawyer and businessman Fahad Malik, a nephew of former Senate chairman Muhammad Mian Soomro, and was shot dead in Islamabad on August 15 after getting into an altercation with Mehmood.

Key evidence

In the applications which Mehmood filed on Friday, he requested the court to direct the police to collect all relevant evidence, including written and voice messages shared on different mobile applications between August 8 and August 15 by female suspects—Shanzay Malik, Iqra Malik, Ayesha Malik and Sonu—as well as the complainant party associated with the case in any way.

Mehmood, through his counsel, claimed that the SHO was told to present the statements of the four women on the record but he had failed to do so.  The counsel said the SHO was further requested to take into possession all messages and photos delivered on different Facebook and email accounts of the women, but he failed to do that too.

Siddiqi said the police was “intentionally” shying from placing on record a compromise deed which was drafted by Malik when the two parties sat down at the police station shortly before the incident took place.

In one of the applications, Siddiqi said the petitioner had challenged the prosecution over finger prints. He said Mehmood’s finger prints can be sent to Forensic Science Lab (FSL) for comparison to prove whether he had handled the gun or not. He claimed that the police has not sent the murder weapon to FSL for comparison owing to their alleged malafide intentions.

Siddiqi requested the IHC to direct the police to obtain the FSL report and present it before a magistrate in the presence of the suspect and his counsel. In another of his applications, Mehmood said that several videos of the incident were recorded which show what had exactly happened. He contended that videos shot at a café in F-11 and at the police station are important evidence.

“The petitioner has come to know that a video of the occurrence [shooting] is also available,” the counsel claimed. He asked the court to direct the police to collect all videos and other evidence in order to determine the real facts of the case.

ATC extends suspects’ remand

Separately, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent Mehmood and another suspect, Noman Khokhar, to jail on judicial remand till October 7. ATC-I judge also directed the investigation officer to submit a charge sheet at the next hearing.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2016.

COMMENTS (1)

javed Ali | 7 years ago | Reply Raja Arshad Mehmood and Noman khokhar are well known gansters of Rawalpindi/ islamabad. I have a first hand experience with them. I am sure this is the not first time they have committed a murder. This time, thanks to the role played by our social media, they have been arrested and this oppurtunity should not go in vain.
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