RAWALPINDI: The police on Friday reconstructed the scene of Maulana Samiul Haq’s murder in a Safari Villa in Bahria Town to retrace the series of events that led to the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Sami (JUI-S) leader’s death.

The police have also sought permission from a sessions judge for exhuming the body of the JUI-S chief so a postmortem could be conducted as the family had not allowed one.

The investigation into the murder has been affected by the lack of a postmortem report.

After seeking permission from a sessions judge of Rawalpindi, the police contacted the concerned court of law in Nowshera, which issued a notice for the exhumation to Maulana Sami’s heirs, sources close to the investigation said.

A police team led by investigation officer Mohammad Jamil left for Akora Khattak to inform the family of Maulana Samiul Haq about the court’s order for the exhumation of the body and a postmortem.

Meanwhile, a police team led by Superintendent of Police (SP) Investigation Ameer Abdullah on Friday visited the late senator’s residence and reconstructed the crime scene.

A police official said the crime scene was reconstructed in an attempt to analyse evidence and other facts gathered from the scene and to answer questions about what happened.

The visit continued for more than three hours during which police investigators photographed and carefully documented the locations of all objects in the room. They also examined items in adjoining rooms.

The police have received the forensic analysis reports of two mobile phones which belonged to the late JUI-S leader. The phone records of his secretary were also scrutinised.

The police think Syed Ahmed Shah was using WhatsApp calls to avoid leaving a record of calls.

The CCTV footage shows Syed Ahmed Shah making phone calls. However, there is no record of a call at the time on the Call Data Record.

The police are still trying to interview the JUI-S chief’s secretary, Syed Ahmed Shah, who has been missing from his home for the last five or six days and a police investigation team was sent to his native Akora Khattak on Thursday.

The DNA match and other forensic reports are yet to be received by the police and no other traces of the killer were found from the crime scene on Friday.

According to the initial forensic report, the knife found at the scene may not have been used in the murder. The murder weapon has still not been found.

The police investigation team was also unable to establish who the blood stained kurta found hanging in a bathroom belonged to. The police believe it did not belong to Maulana Sami and that the blood on the fabric was not fresh.

The garment was also sent to the laboratory for forensic analysis.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018