Mumtaz Qadri threatens to commit suicide

Salmaan Taseer's killer protests against jail authorities' decision to not allow him to meet family in separate room

RAWALPINDI: Former elite force guard Mumtaz Qadri who has been awarded the death penalty for the murder of former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, has threatened to commit suicide if he is not allowed to meet his family in a separate room.

On Thursday, when Qadri’s brother and father went to meet him at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail, they were only allowed to see him through an iron fence owing to security concerns. However, Qadri protested against the move and threatened to commit suicide if he was not allowed to meet his family in a separate room.



According to a jail official, Qadri was earlier allowed to meet his family as per demand and in a separate room.

However, following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold his death penalty, the former elite force guard is not allowed the luxury anymore.

After Qadri threatened to commit suicide, the authorities let him to see his family in a separate room.



Earlier in October, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa scrapped a plea seeking to revoke Qadri’s death sentence.

Qadri, a former police guard, had assassinated former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer on January 4, 2011 outside his residence adjacent to an upscale market in the federal capital.