KARACHI: A judicial magistrate remanded on Friday five suspects in police custody in a case pertaining to the murder of a couple in the name of ‘honour’, and a district court allowed the police to exhume the bodies.

Police submitted that Irfana and her cousin Azmat were allegedly killed by their relatives on Oct 25 in Madina Town, Quaidabad, on the pretext of honour.

The investigating officer produced Saeed Nawaz, Sarfaraz Khan and Umar Nawaz, brothers of the slain woman, with their uncle Lal Qadir and his son Hidayatullah before the court and sought their custody for questioning and arrest of absconders.

The IO also submitted that the victims’ bodies needed to be exhumed for a post-mortem examination. Police have shown the woman’s husband, Nizam Khan, his brother Arshad, Zainullah, Umar and Shazia as absconders in the remand papers.

A judicial magistrate (Malir) handed over the suspects to police on four-day physical remand and directed the IO to reproduce them with a progress report and post-mortem examination reports.

Meanwhile, the district and sessions judge (Malir) also allowed an application of police seeking permission to exhume the victims’ bodies.

According to the prosecution, relatives of the couple had buried the victims in a local graveyard after killing them following a jigra decision over their alleged extramarital affair.

A case was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 201(causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 202 (intentional omission to give information of offence by person bound to inform), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Shah Latif Town police station on a complaint of the SHO as relatives of the victims did not turn up to lodge an FIR.

Two SBCA officials remanded

An anti-corruption court remanded on Friday two officials of the Sindh Building Control Authority in the custody of the Anti-Corruption Establishment in a graft case.

The ACE contended that they had arrested SBCA assistant director Asif Sheikh and inspector Allah Dino while taking a bribe of Rs50,000 from a citizen on Thursday.

The judge in charge of the provincial anti-corruption court handed them over to ACE on one-day physical remand.

Two indicted in lawyer murder case

An anti-terrorism court indicted on Friday two accused in a case pertaining to the murder of a senior lawyer.

Syed Azmat Hussain, alias Azmat, and Mohammad Hameed, alias Pappu, said to be political activists, with their absconding accomplices have been charged with allegedly killing Advocate Mansoob Ali Qureshi in September 2001 in the Arambagh area.

Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2016