Physical remand of Noor murder accused extended

ISLAMABAD: A court in Islamabad on Saturday extended the physical remand for two days of Zahir Jaffer, who has been accused of murdering Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat.

Jaffer was presented before the court amid tight security. Judicial Magistrate Shoaib Akhter conducted the hearing of the case.

During the proceedings, prosecutor Sajid Cheema informed the court that the police needed more time to go through each and every detail of the 40-hour CCTV footage obtained. The complainant’s father, Shaukat Ali Mukadam, was present in the court along with his lawyer Shah Khawar. They were in favour of the extension in the physical remand.

Jaffer has undergone a couple of tests, including polygraph, at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA), Lahore, to verify his statements and evidence collected in connection with the murder.

Besides, samples taken from the victim’s body during the autopsy were also submited to the agency for tests.

Police said that a team, including investigators, took the alleged killer to Lahore where he was taken to the PFSA where he underwent the tests.

Polygraph test (lie detector test) of the accused was conducted to verify his statements given to the police during interrogation, they said, adding it included confession of the crime before police, details of the event and other disclosures which led to recovery of the pieces of evidence.

Besides, a videograph test of the accused was also conducted there, the officers said, adding it was conducted to match and verify the accused with the videos recovered by the investigators in which he was chasing the victim and dragging her inside the house.

The investigators obtained the CCTV footage of a camera installed at the neighbourhood of the accused’s house, they said, adding the footage revealed that the victim jumped from the first floor of the house and ran towards the main gate, but it was locked. Shortly afterwards, she took shelter in a guard’s room, but the accused broke the door and dragged her inside the house, they added. Samples of the accused were also taken for DNA test to verify sexual assault, if any.

Moreover, the samples of heart, lungs, stomach, liver, spleen and intestine taken from the victim’s body during autopsy were also submited to the forensic agency, they added.

The police officers said that mobiles of the victim and the accused were also sent to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to unlock them for forensic tests and retrieval of deleted data.