Mysterious death: Crime branch be tasked to probe LRH killing, says PHC

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police chief asked to depute team to arrest suspects.

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Thursday expressed reservations over the investigation into the death of 24-year-old Noor Bibi, who was killed close to the operation theater of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on March 26.

A division bench comprising PHC Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan and Justice Qaiser Rashid directed the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) police chief to task experts from the crime branch with conducting an inquiry into the murder.

Bibi’s body was set on fire after she was killed, leading the court to take notice of the brutal killing and order a police investigation team to bring the culprits to justice.



Consequently, the police arrested the alleged murderer, Jamshed, by tracing Bibi’s dialed and received phone calls. Following Jamshed’s confession, the court is bent on finding those who assisted in carrying out the killing in a highly secure location.

The PHC ordered Bibi’s body be exhumed so that a second autopsy and blood tests could be conducted in order to ascertain whether she had been intoxicated before her death.

On May 7, Punjab Forensic Laboratory reported the presence of 0.035 grammes of ethanol in Bibi’s blood, upon which the court ordered a medical board consisting of forensic experts be constituted to file a complete report on the quantity and effects of the drug.

During the case hearing on Thursday, the PHC examined the report which suggested changes occurred in the body after death and that the presence of ethanol in Bibi’s system was probably due to natural causes.

Meanwhile, the probing team said a number of suspects had been arrested and Jamshed had already confessed to the crime, adding he would not have been able to commit the murder without the help of an insider at the LRH.

“The killer certainly had help in committing the crime as the place (LRH) is highly secure and carrying out such an incident is impossible without assistance from an insider,” said Justice Dost Muhammad Khan. The bench questioned why the police team could not make further progress in this regard.

The PHC then directed the provincial police chief to depute a team headed by the superintendent along with an inspector and a sub-inspector from the crime branch to investigate the killing and arrest suspected persons including hospital staff. The hearing was later adjourned till June 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2013.