Police on Saturday received two-days physical remand of the suspect arrested for the alleged murder of his Canadian wife in their Chak Shahzad residence — by a local court of Islamabad.

On Friday, the police arrested journalist Ayaz Amir’s son, identified as Shahnawaz, for allegedly killing his wife Sara Inam, 37, a day after she arrived from Dubai — where she had been working.

The incident took place at a farmhouse located in Shahzad Town where the suspect lived along with his mother.

On Saturday, Islamabad Police produced Shahnawaz in the court of Judicial Magistrate Mubasher Hasan Chishti.

During the hearing, the investigating officer alleged that the suspect brought his foreign wife from abroad, and killed her “mercilessly”. The official requested the court to remand Shahnawaz to the police for 10 days for further investigation. On the other hand, the suspect’s lawyer, Raja Zahoor, argued that it was a blind murder.

The police also petitioned the court for arrest warrants of the suspects parents, which was accepted.

In an order issued later, which Dawn.com has seen, Magistrate Chishti said the crime was of “heinous nature” and handed Shahnawaz to the police on two days’ physical remand. “Investigation officer is strictly directed to conclude the matter as soon as possible,” the order states.

The suspect is to be produced before the court on September 26.

FIR

Earlier, the Islamabad police registered a first information report (FIR) at the Chak Shahzad police station in the murder case.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was registered under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Station House Officer (SHO) Nawazish Ali Khan.

The complaint stated that on September 23, the suspect’s mother Samina Shah called the police and informed them that Shahnawaz had murdered his wife “with a dumbbell”.

“My son is present in the house and has hidden the body,” the FIR quoted Shah as saying, adding that the police subsequently raided the house.

“He had locked himself up in his room. When they broke inside, there were stains of blood stains on Shahnawaz’s hands and clothes,” the police said in the complaint.

“He then confessed that he had repeatedly hit his wife with a dumbbell during an argument and then hid her body in the washroom’s bathtub.”

According to the FIR, Shahnawaz also said he had “hidden” the murder weapon under his bed.

Upon examining the dumbbell, the police found blood and hair on it. “We have sent it for forensics,” the FIR added.

The complaint further stated that the victim’s body had been sent to the Polyclinic Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Earlier, former deputy superintendent (DSP) prosecution of the capital police, Azhar Shah, told Dawn that the police got an autopsy conducted on the body before the registration of an FIR or receipt of a complaint about the incident, which was a violation of the Police Rule’s chapter 26.

He said if a family member was not available in such a case, the police itself could become a complainant on behalf of the state. The autopsy can be conducted after registration of the FIR, he added.