Zahir, others to be indicted today

Trial court will wrap up proceedings in two months

ISLAMABAD:

A trial court of Islamabad will indict Zahir Jaffer and 12 other suspects in Noor the Muqqadam murder case on Tuesday (today).

The Islamabad High Court has given the two-month deadline to the trial court to complete the proceedings in the murder case.

Six suspects, including the prime suspect Zahir Jaffer, will be presented before Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani from Adiala jail.

Therapy Works Chief Executive Officer Tahir Zahoor and five others who had been granted bail, have been sent notices to appear before the court for the indictment hearing.

The trial court had distributed copies of the interim challan to all suspects at a previous hearing on September 23 and had ordered Investigation Officer (IO), Abdul Sattar Khan, to complete the challan until October 6 and submit it to the court.

The trial court could not start proceedings early as the IO had informed the court at the last hearing that they were waiting for the forensic report of cell phones and laptops of Noor Muqqadam and Zahir Jaffer.

IHC had also turned down post-arrest bail pleas of Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, the parents of prime suspects, and ordered the trial court to conclude the trial within two months.

Read More: Zahir Jaffer ‘confesses’ to killing Noor Muqaddam

IHC Justice Aamer Farooq had maintained that in prima facie, Zakir Jaffer and Ismat Adamjee had aided and abetted their son in Noor Muqqadam’s murder.

According to the high court, the parents knew that Zahir Jaffer had taken Noor hostage, and did not inform the police despite it.

Muqqadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was grisly murdered in Islamabad’s F-7/4 neighbourhood on July 20. Zahir Jaffer was arrested at the crime scene on the same day. The incident had also sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention.

Zahir Jaffer’s parents and their servants are also under arrest on charges of abetment and hiding evidence.

According to the interim challan, Therapy Works employees tried to cover up the crime and destroyed the evidence. A Therapy Works employee, who was injured by Jaffer, did not even register the incident and it had been mentioned as a road accident in his medical slip, the interim challan said.

It said that photos and fingerprints stored in the DVR also belong to the suspect.

According to the August 12 DNA report, the prime suspect was found to have raped the victim. Reports said that no effects of poison or drugs were found in the victim.

The interim challan had also said that the victim jumped from the washroom and ran away towards the gate. However, the janitor at the gate did not help her. The gardener, Jan Mohammad, also did not open the gate. Had he opened the door, Noor could have run away, the interim challan said. It said that the suspect had booked a flight to the United States on July 19 but did not travel.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2021.