ISLAMABAD: A magistrate of Islamabad Saqib Jawad on Monday extended judicial remand of Zahir Zakir Jaffer, the principal accused in last month’s gruesome murder of Noor Mukadam till August 30 as the investigation officer failed to submit a charge-sheet (challan) against him and others involved in the case.
The court also sent the owner of counseling center Therapy Works Tahir Zahoor and his five employees to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on 14-day judicial remand.
Mukadam was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale F-7/4 sector on July 20 in a case that has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention unlike any other recent crime against women. The victim was the daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, Pakistan’s former ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan.
The key suspect Zahir Jaffer, who is on judicial remand in Adiala Jail in Islamabad’s twin city of Rawalpindi, was apprehended from the crime scene, his home, on the day of the murder. He had reportedly been practicing as a psychotherapist after enrolling in a certification course with Therapy Works. Police say a team from the counselling center was already at the crime scene when they arrived on July 20, having been summoned by Jaffer’s parents, who are also under arrest.
Islamabad police on Monday brought Jaffer to the Islamabad district courts where judicial magistrate Saqib Jawad marked his attendance through a court order. The accused was kept in judicial lockup in the court and not presented before the judge. Later, the court extended his judicial remand till August 30.
The police did not submit a detailed charge-sheet in the court today, Monday, saying the investigation of at least nine suspects in the case was still underway.
However, the judicial magistrate allowed police to conduct a DNA test of Zahir Jaffer’s two employees, a security guard and cook, who were present in the house on the day of the murder.
Meanwhile, the court rejected post arrest bail application of Therapy Works owner Zahoor, saying they were involved in offences which falls under prohibitory clause.
“Accused Tahir Zahoor was in contact with the parents of the accused and as a result of that contact a team was sent to the crime scene,” the court said in its order on Sunday, referring to the Therapy Works’ employees.
Inspector Abdul Sattar, who is investigating the case, told the court on Monday the five arrested employees of Therapy Works had admitted during interrogation that they were sent to Jaffer home on July 20 by their boss, Tahir Zahoor. The call detail record has also confirmed the presence of the team at the crime scene, he said.
A doctor will now collect the blood samples of Zahoor and his employees and dispatch them to the Punjab Forensic Sciences Agency in Lahore for DNA tests. Last week, DNA tests conducted on clothes, the weapon of offense and other material collected from the crime scene confirmed Jaffer was the killer.
