Islamabad court extends Zahir Jaffer's physical remand

An Islamabad court extended on Saturday the physical remand of Zahir Jaffer, who has been accused of murdering Noor Mukadam, the 27-year-old daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat.

Jaffer was presented before a court after the completion of his three-day physical remand. The police asked Duty Magistrate Shoaib Bilal Ranjha to extend his physical remand as they had yet to recover his mobile phone, Samaa reported.

The police informed the court that they had already recovered a knife as well as a pistol from the accused. Approving Jaffer's physical remand for two days, the court directed the police to present him before the court on July 26.

Earlier, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Qazi Jamilur Rehman had directed the investigation team to seek placement of Jaffer's name on the Exit Control List (ECL). The IGP also instructed the team to acquire Jaffer's records from the United States and the United Kingdom, and told them to approach the relevant authority to make it happen.

Noor, daughter of a former ambassador of Pakistan to South Korea and Kazakhstan Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in Sector F-7/4 on Tuesday.

Noor murder case: Islamabad IGP to place suspect's name on ECL

A first information report (FIR) was registered against Jaffer under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim's father.

According to the FIR, Shaukat said that Noor called to tell them that she was travelling to Lahore with some friends and would return in a day or two. On Tuesday afternoon, the complainant said he received a call from Jaffer, who informed Shaukat that Noor was not with him, the FIR said.

At around 10pm the same day, the victim's father received a call from Kohsar police station, informing him that Noor had been murdered.

Police subsequently took the complainant to Jaffer's house where he discovered that his "daughter has been brutally murdered with a sharp-edged weapon and beheaded", the FIR said.

Speaking at a presser, the investigation team, led by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Investigation Attaur Rehman and ASP Kohsar Amna Baig, said, "Zahir Jaffer, the suspect in the brutal murder of the daughter of an ex-diplomat, was completely sound and in his senses when arrested from the murder scene".

The SSP emphasised that police were focusing on the suspect's "mental frame of mind" and that initial findings indicated the suspect was completely aware of his actions when he allegedly committed the murder.