Police resolve couple’s murder

ISLAMABAD:

The police have made arrests in the open murder case of a couple from Jhang that married against the wishes of their respective families.

Baqir Zulfiqar and Bushra Ayub had fled to Islamabad but were unable to escape their relatives. The man’s body was dumped in a stream in Sector I-10, while the girl was killed and dumped in the jurisdiction of Qadir Pur Police Station in Jhang. The case was transferred to Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Islamabad, and the specialist crime investigation agency managed to track down Zulfiqar’s suspected killers on Monday. The arrests also led to the resolution of Bushra Ayub murder case in Jhang.

“The young couple was hiding in Bhara Kahu, where men from the girl’s family managed to locate them,” said CIA Deputy Superintendent of Police Bashir Ahmed Noon. He said the police had first tracked down Zulfiqar’s family in Silanwali, Sargodha District.  Police informants had told the local police about the episode surrounding the couple’s elopement. After investigating further, the police found clues that led to the arrest of the suspects, Jaffer Khan and an accomplice, who later confessed to killing the couple and divulged complete details about the incidents.

They told the police that Zulfiqar was strangled to death immediately after they picked him up from a house in Bhara Kahu. His body was dumped in I-10 on their way to Jhang, where they then strangled Ayub and dumped her body in a stream.

Police booked the suspects and produced them in court, where they were remanded into police custody for four days. Arrest warrants for three accomplices were also issued.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2012.