MULTAN: Police on Wed­nesday arrested Mufti Abdul Qavi, an accused in the model Qandeel Baloch murder case, after the district and sessions court rejected his bail plea.

The cleric appeared before District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Ameer Ahmad, but left the premises before the court announced its verdict reserved some time ago on his bail appeal. Police arrested him within the jurisdiction of the Muzaffarabad police station when he was heading to some unknown destination.

When the court announced its decision and asked police to arrest Mufti Qavi, officials present there learnt that the cleric had already left the court. A police team rushed to his residence adjacent to his seminary Darul Uloom Ubaidia in the Qadirabad area, but could not find him.

Cleric earlier escaped from court before announcement of verdict rejecting his bail plea

Multan City Police Officer Chaudhry Saleem dismissed investigation officer Noor Akbar for helping the cleric escape and got him arrested under Section 155-C of the Police Order 2002. Both Mufti Qavi and Akbar, another accused, after their arrest, were detained in the Chahliyak police station lock-up.

Sources said Mufti Qavi had hidden himself at a place near Muzaffargah after the escape and was located by police through his mobile phone that he had not switched off.

Trial court judge/judicial magistrate Mohammad Parvaiz Khan had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Mufti Qavi on Oct 12 after the court was informed by police that the cleric was not cooperating in investigation into the model’s murder.

Mufti Qavi filed a pre-arrest bail application with the district and session judge who granted the relief and summoned him on Oct 17 (Tuesday). He appeared before the court on Tuesday, but the judge adjourned the hearing for Wednesday.

According to the sources, police investigated Mufti Qavi on three issues — his telephonic contacts with one of Qandeel’s brothers settled aboard before her murder, a press conference by Qandeel in June last year (a month before her murder) in which she stated that she was receiving death threats after a few selfies of her with Mufti Qavi went viral on social media and her parents’ accusations that the cleric was a reason behind the murder of their daughter.

Police launched the investigation against Mufti Qavi under Section 109 (abetting in crime) of the Pakistan Penal Code. Qandeel Baloch was found strangled in her house in Multan’s Karimabad area on July 16 last year. Her father claimed that she had been killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2017