ABBOTTABAD: Civil Judge Gulzar Ullah on Friday sent six more accused persons on judicial remand after they refused to confess their involvement in the murder of 16-year-old girl Ambreen.

Three of the accused persons were sent to judicial lockup on Thursday. Total 14 persons, including jirga members and mother of the victim girl, have been arrested by Abbottabad police in the case. The remaining five accused are already in the judicial lockup after expiry of their police remand.

The police had produced the six accused in the court of special judge of Anti-Terrorism Court Hazara Masood Ahmed after their 28-day police remand expired on Friday. They claimed that the accused persons were ready to confess to their crime and wanted to record their statements in the court of judicial magistrate. So, the ATC judge allowed them to be produced before the judicial magistrate for recording their statements. However, the accused refused to accept the charges of murder and setting body of victim girl on fire in the court of civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate, Gulzar Ullah.

The magistrate directed production of all the 14 detained persons before the special ATC judge in the next hearing fixed for June 15. It merits a mention here that Ambreen was murdered and her body was torched in Donga Gali on April 27.

The case was initially handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department after insertion of 7 ATA section, but later the investigation was transferred to police.

The men sent to judicial lockup on Friday included Siraj, Naseer, Muneer Ahmed, Safdar Zaman, Pervez, Shabbir and Pervez.

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2016