JIT to probe female medic's abduction, murder

The Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has constituted a high-level Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the abduction and murder of Lady Doctor Warda Mushtaq, a medical officer at DHQ Hospital Abbottabad. The decision comes amid mounting public outrage and persistent demands from the medical community for a transparent and expeditious inquiry.

The establishment department issued the notification on Wednesday, following directions from the chief minister's secretariat.

Approved by the chief secretary, the JIT has been tasked with conducting a comprehensive fact-finding inquiry and must submit its findings within five days.

The JIT includes Khyyam Hassan, Chairman of the Provincial Inspection Team, as head, Haroonur Rasheed, District Police Officer Abbottabad, a representative from the Counter Terrorism Department, Special Branch (KP Police), Directorate General of Prosecution, the doctors' community of Abbottabad, and the lawyers' community of Abbottabad.

The government later added Assistant Inspector General of Police Sonia Shamroz to strengthen the team.

Notifications have been sent to senior provincial officials, including the additional chief secretary, principal secretaries to the governor and chief minister, the provincial police officer, commissioner Abbottabad and other departments.

In a parallel development, the special investigation team has written to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Abbottabad to verify whether the nominated accused have any prior history of money laundering or financial crimes.

Investigators suspect the accused paid Rs3 million to execute the crime, raising concerns about illicit financial transactions and AML/CFT violations.

The FIA has been asked to scrutinise business dealings, FIR records, inquiries, investigations, suspicious transactions, cybercrime or financial crime history, travel records and watch-list status.

Police have recovered two vehicles used in the abduction and transportation of the victim.

Authorities have also sealed five shops belonging to the victim's husband as investigations expand into the financial and logistical network behind the crime.

Investigators found that Dr Warda's gold ornaments - valued at nearly Rs3 million - were deposited in a bank as collateral for a Rs5 million loan. Police believe the suspects also targeted her due to the high value of these assets.