Police to seek ECL placement for Noor Mukadam’s murderer

Islamabad Inspector-General of Police Qazi Jamilur Rehman instructed the investigation team probing the brutal killing of Noor Mukadam to seek the placement of suspect Zahir Zakir Jaffer’s name on the Exit Control List, according to a statement issued by the police spokesperson on Friday.

According to details, the Islamabad police have recommended placement of the suspect’s name on the ECL and had sent an application to the chief commissioner for the purpose.

INP reported that the chief commissioner had received the application and forwarded it to the interior ministry for further progress on the matter. The interior ministry will place Zahir Jaffar on ECL after the approval of the cabinet committee in this regard.

Noor Mukadam, 27, daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in the capital’s upscale Sector F-7/4 on Tuesday.

Moreover, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the IGP “not to make any concessions” while probing the murder of Noor Mukadam.

Gill said that the prime minister is “personally monitoring” the case and has asked the IGP for a report.

“The prime minister has ordered that justice be provided to Noor Mukadam’s family,” the aide said.

“We all have daughters. I would like to ask the Opposition to stand united with us on this front,” he added.

He requested the courts to “meet all the requirements of the law” and for the authorities to investigate the crime “on merit”.

Gill also spoke of Noor’s mother, whom he quoted as saying that her daughter was a “soft-hearted girl” who had been “brutally tortured”.

He said that had the police been timely alerted to the killer’s actions, “then perhaps her life could have been saved”.

The premier’s aide said that as the investigation proceeds and things become clearer, “the facts of the case will be shared with the nation”.

He said that “Noor can never be brought back, but what can be done is justice”.

Gill said that besides the prime minister is personally invested in the outcome of the investigation, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed and Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari are also in touch with the police and seeking updates off and on.

“We will not be sharing any details until the police complete their investigation,” he said.

“Please give some time to the police to complete their probe. Rest assured, justice will be done,” the aide said.

Similarly, over 100 former ambassadors have demanded of the government to put the name of the killer on ECL.

The Association of Former Ambassadors of Pakistan, in a statement issued by AFA Secretary-General Ambassador Sanaullah, strongly condemned the gruesome killing of the daughter of former Ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukaddam and called for an “exemplary punishment” for the murderer.

The ambassadors apprehended that “using his dual nationality”, the murderer could be made to escape the country.

“Therefore, the Association demands that his name should be placed on the ECL to ensure that he does not use his family influence and power to slip away from the country,” the statement read.

The former ambassadors noted with “disgust and horror” the brutal and heinous crime and called upon the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a notice of it to ensure that justice is done.

They also urged the police and prosecutor to get hold of all previous medical and criminal records of the culprit.

“Supervision of this case would help reduce alarmingly high crime against women in Islamabad,” they stressed.

The association appreciated the personal message of support from the FM to the bereaved family and mentioned the Foreign Secretary, who lent his support by attending the funeral.

A day earlier, the supervising police officer in the case said that Zahir Zakir Jaffer was completely “sound and in his senses” when arrested from the murder scene of the daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat in Islamabad, reported Dawn.

A friend of the woman, identified in the FIR as Zahir Zakir, was arrested over his alleged involvement in the murder, with police saying he is the son of “a leading businessman of the country”.

While addressing a press conference to address what he said were different claims on social media about the killing, SSP (Investigation) Ataur Rehman was asked about the widely rumoured drug abuse history of the suspect, Zahir.

In response, SSP Rehman said while the drug usage was not the domain of the police investigation, “when we arrested him, he was sound and in his senses. He may have had a past history [of taking drugs] but at least at this time he was completely in his senses.”

He emphasised that police were focusing on the suspect’s “mental frame of mind” and those initial findings indicated the suspect was completely aware of his actions when he allegedly committed the murder.

Regarding his mental health history, the SSP said the police investigation “has nothing to do with that” and was being pursued from the angle of whether the act was justified or not — “which it completely wasn’t”.

The senior police officer said the suspect was tied with ropes by some people whom he had attacked after killing Noor before police arrived at the scene.

Police had initially said the victim was shot at before being “slaughtered”. Another person was also injured in the incident.

But SSP Rehman said while a pistol had been found at the suspect’s house, the initial investigation and medical report did not show a firearm injury in the incident. He added that a bullet was stuck in the pistol’s chamber at the time it was recovered.

Zahir, who is currently in police custody on remand, is being interrogated, the SSP said, adding that police did not currently have information about whether the suspect had a criminal record in other countries.

Rehman said the servants present in the house at the time of the incident had also been included in the investigation and were being questioned on various points such as the duration for which Noor was present in the suspect’s house.

Citing the statement of the servants, the SSP said they had heard the noise of a quarrel between Noor and the suspect. But it needed to be determined whether the servants knew the fight would end up in murder, he added.

“If they really knew that its ultimate result would be a murder then they also fall into vicarious liability and criminal negligence but in case they didn’t know what its result would be then we will only hold them responsible as far as their liability goes.”

It also needed to be established what exactly transpired during the quarrel that led to the murder, the officer said.

According to SSP Rehman, police had been alerted to the incident by a local resident and immediately reached the crime scene since the police station was “hardly at a distance of 10 minutes” from the house.

He said police had acted swiftly, immediately arresting the suspect and covering the crime scene, while evidence was collected by the forensic science agency. “This way we have made the full effort that not a single piece of evidence is destroyed,” he added.

He told the presser that the inspector general of police had visited the victim’s family and the crime scene and that he had constituted a special team for the case — led by SSP Rehman himself.

“The special team was made because this case is very important for us,” he said, stressing that police were “standing with the aggrieved family, and getting them every kind of justice is our duty and responsibility”.

SSP Rehman said the findings of the police investigation would be based on “solid evidence” whether the suspect gave his statement or not. He vowed that police would get him convicted and sentenced based on the evidence.

Answering a question, Rehman said “whenever someone’s brutal murder is carried out then we shouldn’t care about the financial position of the culprit even if they are the son of a very influential father.”

When asked about reports of other complaints against the suspect on social media, the SSP urged those people to come forward and inform the police.

The grisly murder sparked fresh debate about the safety of women in the federal capital, with the hashtag #JusticeForNoor attracting tens of thousands of tweets.

This was reportedly the third brutal attack on a woman in the country in the past few days.

with additional input from APP