Noor murder case: parents of suspect remanded

ISLAMABAD:

A court in Islamabad on Sunday remanded the parents of the suspect in former Pakistani envoy’s daughter Noor Mukadam murder, along with two of their employees, in police custody for two days.

The judgement came after Zahir Jaffer's father, Zakir Jaffer, and mother, Ismat Adamjee, were produced before magistrate Shehzad Khan.

In addition, two of the suspect's domestic aides, Iftikhar and Jamil, were also sent on two-day physical remand.

During the hearing, the lawyer representing Noor’s father argued that the judicial system was not followed, requesting the court to place the suspect’s parents on physical remand.

“If the co-counsel is not protecting the accused, then let the parents of the accused be kept in custody for interrogation,” the lawyer maintained.

The police sought a five-day physical remand of the four people.

They said the victim jumped out of the ventilator to escape.

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The police added that the domestic aides had seen the suspect pulling the victim into the house.

If they had informed the police in time, the murder could have been avoided, they stated.

A neighbor informed the police, who reached the crime scene within three minutes.

The police pleaded for remand of the four people so that their cell phones could be recovered.

The lawyer representing the suspect’s parents told the court that his clients were on interim bail but the police still took them into custody.

He added that surety bonds were to be submitted but could not be as banks were closed.

He sought the immediate release of his clients.

“Despite being on interim bail, my clients were arrested. We will file a contempt case against the police.”

The lawyer said his clients did not support the suspects either and wanted justice for the victim.

During the hearing, the father of suspect said they learnt about the case after arrival from Karachi.

He added that they acquired bail and appeared before the police.

The public prosecutor told the court that the surety bonds were not submitted, and so the police had arrested the four people.

After hearing the arguments of the parties, the court remanded the four people in police custody for two days.

Speaking to the media for the first time since the gruesome murder, the suspect's father said that his family had close ties with the family of Shaukat Mukadam, Noor’s father and former diplomat.

He added that he was sympathetic with the victim’s father and also "wanted justice to be served in this case".

A day earlier, a court in Islamabad had extended the physical remand of suspect Zahir for two days.

The police produced the suspect before the court of Duty Magistrate Sohaib Bilal Ranjha after completion of his three-day physical remand.

During the hearing, the police officials informed the court that they had recovered a dagger, a pistol and an iron machete from Zahir. They sought an extension in the physical remand of the suspect for another two weeks to recover his cell phone.

However, the court only extended the physical remand of the suspect for two days and directed the police to produce him before the court on Monday.