Prime suspect in Dr Warda murder case killed in police shootout

K-P IG says main accused, Shamrez, has been on the run since the killing of Abbottabad’s doctor

PESHAWAR:

The prime suspect in the killing of Dr Warda Mushtaq in Abbottabad was killed in a police encounter, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police chief said.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) IG shared developments in the murder case of Dr Warda on Sunday. According to the K-P police chief, the main accused, identified as Shamrez, was killed during an encounter with law enforcement. He said the suspect had been on the run since the incident, but police teams worked round the clock to trace him. Other suspects nominated in the case had already been arrested earlier.

Earlier, District Police Officer Abbottabad Haroon Rasheed, while addressing a press conference, revealed that Dr Warda had given 67 tolas of gold to her friend Rida for safe keeping two years ago. When Dr Verda demanded the return of the gold, she was allegedly abducted and brutally murdered.

The DPO further disclosed that Dr Warda was killed on the same day she was abducted. The post-mortem report confirmed that her neck bone was broken and the cause of death was strangulation and suffocation. Clear signs of torture were also found on her body.

Police later nominated and arrested Wahid, husband of the female suspect, in the case. Provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act have also been added against the arrested suspects.

Read More: Body of missing Abbotabad lady doctor recovered from forest

The body of Dr Warda Mushtaq, a doctor at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Abbottabad, was recovered on the night of December 4 from a forest on the pointation of her friend and her accomplices, bringing a tragic end to the case of doctor’s mysterious disappearance.

After Dr Wardah went mssing, her father lodged a complaint at the Cantonment police station. Investigators found out that Dr Wardah had handed her 67 tolas of gold to her friend Rida for safekeeping in 2023. Later, a dispute erupted when Dr Wardah asked her friend to return her gold.

According to investigators, on December 4, 2025, Rida reportedly contacted Dr Wardah at the District Headquarters Hospital and took her away under the pretext of returning the gold. She drove the doctor to an under-construction house near Jadoon Plaza on Rehman Street, where Rida’s accomplices — Shamraiz son of Ayub, his brother Pervez, and an unidentified man — were already present. Rida then left the doctor in the custody of her accomplices and went home.

Police examined CCTV footage, call data records and other technical material, questioned more than 35 suspects, and eventually arrested Rida, Nadeem Zaib son of Aurangzeb, and Pervez son of Ayub. The prime suspect, Shamraiz, is still at large.

During interrogation, the detained suspects confessed that they kidnapped Dr Wardah and later killed her, and buried buried her body in a pit in the Lari Banota forest. Pervez later led investigators to the burial site, where the body was recovered and sent for post-mortem examination.

The vehicle used in the incident, along with stamp papers and cheques related to the gold dispute, were also seized.