Farzana murder case: Police detains three more suspects

To seek physical remand from court today.

LAHORE:

Punjab police on Wednesday detained four of the six prime suspects in last week’s murder of a 25-year-old woman, Farzana.

DIG Operations Lahore Zulfiqar Hameed told The Express Tribune that Farzana’s brothers, Ghulam Ali and Zahid Ali, her ex-husband Mazhar Iqbal and a relative, Jabbar Khan, were arrested from various locations in Punjab.

Farzana’s father, Muhammad Azeem, was arrested on the day of the murder, while her husband, Mazhar, was detained by police two days ago from a village in Jaranwala Tehsil. Hameed said the suspects were arrested after the police tracked their location via their mobile phones.

A senior investigator said Zahid Ali was detained on Tuesday from Faisalabad, whereas Ghulam Ali was arrested from Layyah on Wednesday.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, he said police did not disclose the news of the arrests as they were waiting for leads on other suspects on the run.

A last suspect, Farzana’s aunt Saeeda, has yet to be found. DIG Hameed said raids are being conducted to find her.

Civil Lines Investigation SP Mufakhar Adeel said the suspects had not confessed to the murder yet and had not been interrogated at the time this report was filed.

Adeel said a physical remand of all suspects would be sought in court today (Thursday).

Published in The Express Tribune, June 5^th, 2014.