RAWALPINDI: One month on, the police have not made any progress in the investigation into the murder of Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq.

However, an interim charge sheet of the case was submitted by the police in the court of an additional session judge on Monday.

The interim charge sheet contains the statements of the victim’s son and a report on more than 12 individuals, the mobile phone data of the JUI-S chief, the preliminary statement given by the victim’s secretary and a police investigation report.

Police submit interim charge sheet in court a month later when they were to file it within 14 days

However, it does not identify a prime accused. The police was to submit an interim charge sheet for the murder case within 14-days of the incident.

The police have been waiting for the DNA report of the samples taken from the victim’s body and those taken from elsewhere at the crime scene.

The police have been reluctant to share details of their investigation with the deceased’s family nor have they made the details public. No cash reward has been offered for information that could lead to the murderer.

“We cannot say anything at the moment because we are still investigating into the murder,” a police official close to the investigation said.

The police’s attempts to exhume Maulana Sami’s body for a post-mortem have also been unproductive after the concerned court of law as well as the family refused permission for the exhumation.

The request was made to the additional session judge by the Rawalpindi police which was forwarded to the concerned court in Nowshera which rejected it.

JUI-S leader Maulana Samiul Haq was killed in a Safari Villa in Bahria Town on Nov 2 when his secretary, Syed Ahmed Shah had gone to get water from a nearby filtration plant.

Mr Shah, who is considered the prime witness, was allowed by the police to attend the funeral but he did not turn up and has been missing since.

On Monday, Maulana Sami’s son, Maulana Hamidul Haq, met with senior officials of the Rawalpindi police to discuss the progress made, if any, in the investigation.

Mr Haq told Dawn the police are not sharing anything with the family regarding the investigation into his father’s killing.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2018