An important development in the murder case of Maulana Samiul Haq took place on Thursday as the deceased's personal secretary, Ahmed Shah, was arrested by police.

The arrest took place with the assistance of the maulana's relatives, police told DawnNewsTV.

Maulana Sami, an influential religious scholar and former senator, was assassinated by unidentified suspect(s) at his residence in Rawalpindi on November 2.

The maulana's personal secretary had "disappeared mysteriously" funeral his funeral. Despite repeated efforts, police said they had previously been unable to locate him.

The secretary is currently being interrogated regarding the murder.

"Maulana Samiul Haq's secretary can prove to be a very important figure in this case," a police official told DawnNewsTV.

One month into the killing, police had been unable to make any significant progress in the investigation into the murder of the Jamiat-i-Ulema Islam-Sami chief.

On December 5, however, an interim charge sheet of the case was submitted by the police to the airport judicial magistrate.

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 maulana and a police investigation report.

However, the report does not identify a prime suspect.