Asma Rani murder: Main accused Mujahidullah Afridi nabbed in UAE

K-P police chief confirms news of Afridi's arrest

PESHAWAR: Mujahid Afridi, the prime suspect in Dr Asma Rani murder case, has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reportedly with the help of Interpol.

“UAE has informed us about the arrest. Confirmation will be made after the exchange of documentation and the accused. The Kohat police and UAE police had been in direct contact for the last 3-4 weeks,” the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Inspector General of Police Salahudin Mehsud said on Thursday.

Earlier there were rumours that the Interpol arrested the accused from Sharjah, but the reports could not be confirmed from independent sources.



Rani, a medical student, was fatally injured outside of her house in Kohat Development Authority Township. Later, in her dying declaration, she had accused Afridi of shooting her with the help of his brother and a friend.

Mujahid Afridi, son of a wealthy man and nephew of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) district leader in Kohat, had apparently targeted Rani after she refused his marriage proposal.

The ill-fated medical student had come from Abbottabad to Kohat, her hometown, during her holidays.

The accused, who was already married and had a business in the UAE, managed to escape to Saudi Arabia on the day of the incident from Islamabad Airport using an Umrah visa.

After his escape, the K-P police had approached the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and asked it to approach Interpol for the arrest of the accused from Saudi Arabia.

The brutal murder and the accused’s escape had sent a shockwave across the country. His brother and a friend, both co-accused, were later arrested by the Kohat police and interrogated. The police had also recovered the gun used in the murder based on information provided by the co-accused.