Probe into Wajiha murder case hits a snag

PFSA fails to put together forensic report of accused and victim's mobile phones

RAWALPINDI:

Police robing the kidnapping and killing of Pakistani-American woman Wajiha Swati have been facing problems in completing the investigation as the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) could not release the forensic report of the accused and the victim's mobile phone despite a repeated reminder.

A senior police officer said on condition of anonymity that they have stopped the investigation into the murder case as the forensic report of mobile phones recovered from slain Wajiha Swati and accused Rizwan Habib could not be prepared by the PFSA.

The police have arrested six accused including Rizwan Habib, the main accused in the murder case. The accused are currently in Adial jail on judicial remand.

Sources said that the forensic report of the victim and the accused's mobile phones was very important evidence to be presented in the court.

The investigation team has recorded confessional statements of all accused and presented an interim charge sheet in the court earlier.

According to sources, the mobile phones of Wajiha Swati and Rizwan Habib had been sent to the PFSA with a written note for early forensic of the call data of both mobile phones

According to the sources, police were facing difficulties in preparing a complete challan against the accused owing to the delay in the forensic report.

SSP Investigation Syed Ghazanfar Abbas said that the challan is still incomplete due to the non-receipt of the forensic report of the accused and the victim's mobile phones.

According to the police, Wajiha Swati was first abducted by her ex-husband on October 16, 2021, after she reached Pakistan from the US. Later, he killed her and took the body to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Police formally arrested the accused on December 22 last year and during the investigation, Rizwan Habib confessed to killing Wajiha Swati after the abduction.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 23^rd, 2022.