A Karachi anti-terrorism court on Thursday remanded two men into police custody for allegedly "facilitating" a suspect in fleeing to Sweden after he was booked for killing a policeman in Defence.
Suspect Khurrum Nisar had on Monday shot dead 34-year-old police constable Abdul Rehman when he stopped him for suspicion of kidnapping a girl in Clifton Block-V on the night of Nov 21.
Nisar, a dual national, had subsequently escaped to Sweden through a Turkish airline flight by using his Swedish passport.
On Wednesday, the police tracked down and arrested the suspect's brother-in-law Amir Qadeer and driver Aurangzeb for their alleged involvement in helping Nisar to flee.
Earlier today, the police produced both the detained suspects before the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism court to seek their physical remand for interrogation.
The investigating officer told the court that Nisar's house had been traced. "When the police reached there, they found that Aurangzeb had parked the car [used by the suspect] and changed its number plates to hush up the crime."
Nisar, he went on, had phoned his driver on the night of Nov 22 and called him to the airport, where he confessed the crime.
The IO said that on the instructions of Nisar, the driver had removed the weapon — allegedly used in the offence — and the vehicle’s number plates. "The police have successfully recovered the weapon and the number plates from Nisar's residence."
Meanwhile, Qadeer had accompanied Nisar to the airport and was aware of the crime, he added.
The officer maintained that further disclosure was expected from the suspects in custody. "Hence, the police required their physical remand for 14 days to complete the investigation and other formalities," he added.
After hearing the arguments, the judge remanded Aurangzeb and Qadeer into police custody till Nov 30, directing the officer to produce them on the next date along with an investigation report.
The case
Nisar lived in Sweden and came to Pakistan on Nov 5, and stayed in his DHA residence.
According to the first information report (FIR), on the night of Nov 21, policemen heard cries of a woman from a passing car on Khayaban-i-Shamsheer near 26th Street signal, at around 11.30pm.
Constable Rehman chased the car and got it stopped near the Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine, where he rushed and sat on the front seat of the car. But, the woman got off the car and disappeared.
The driver drove to E-street, Phase-V Extension and stopped in front of a builder’s office, where he and Rehman exchanged hot words. The suspect fired at Rehman and the bullet hit him in the head.
A day after the crime, Nisar fled Pakistan via his Swedish passport.
Subsequently, a four-member team led by SSP Raza has been established and it would approach the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Interpol, and the Swedish embassy for the arrest of the suspect.
