GUJRAT: Police on Saturday arrested the father and former husband of Samia Shahid, the British woman of Pakistani origin who was found dead in mysterious circumstance while visiting her family in a village near Jhelum, and got their remand for interrogation.

Samia’s former husband Chaudhry Shakil and father Chaudhry Shahid were produced before Civil Judge/Judicial Magistrate Mehreen Seemab Abbasi.

The court remanded them in police custody for four days.

Earlier in the day, Jhelum Additional District and Session Judge Mohammad Sajjad Afzal cancelled the interim bail of Shakil, who had once again failed to appear in court. He did not appear before the judge also on the previous hearing on Aug 6.

Another suspect in the case, Samia’s first cousin Chaudhry Mobeen, was not produced in court on Saturday. His family claimed that Mobeen was in the custody of police. However, the police informed the court that Mobeen was not arrested.

Investigators claimed that Shakil also disclosed to his involvement in the murder of his ex-wife.

Police sources said that the former husband informed the police that he allegedly strangled Samia after intoxicating her by a drug. He, however, said that he had acted alone and that Samia’s father and other members of the family had nothing to do with the murder.

Samia, 28, was found dead in her family’s home on July 20. Her family first claimed that she had suffered a heart attack. But later it changed its statement claiming that she had committed suicide.

Syed Mukhtar Kazim, Samia’s second husband, lodged a murder case with the Mangla police station in Jhelum on July 23, claiming that his wife was killed by members of her family in the name of honour.

Post-mortem and forensic reports have confirmed that Samia did not die of natural causes.

Last week, the Jhelum police sought the extradition of two female suspects in the case, Samia’s mother Imtiaz Bibi and sister Madiha Shahid, from the United Kingdom through Interpol.

In a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, member of British parliament from Bradford Naz Shah sought justice for Samia.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2016