ABBOTTABAD: Abbottabad police claimed to have made a major breakthrough in the murder case of Dr Wardah Mushtaq by arresting another accused in the case.

The police produced the arrested accused, Adil, in a local court and got his custody on seven days remand.

Police said that on the pointation of the accused, Adil, the police recovered the personal belongings of Dr Wardah along with a large cache of weapons and explosives from the residence of the prime accused, Shamraiz, who was earlier killed in an alleged police encounter.

According to police officials, acting on the lead, the police conducted a search at Shamraiz’s house where a concealed compartment was discovered.

From the hidden space, investigators recovered crucial evidence linked to the murder including Dr Wardah’s mobile phone, national identity card, ATM card, vehicle registration card, a photograph and tools allegedly used in the crime such as a pick-axe and a shovel.

Police stated that Shamraiz was the main suspect in the murder case and was killed earlier during a police encounter.

Subsequent disclosures by the arrested suspect led to the recovery of a substantial quantity of arms, ammunition and explosive material from the same concealed compartment, added SP Ayaz Khan.

The seized items included two RPG-7 rounds ,two hand grenades, one 12-bore single-barrel repeater, one 12-bore shotgun , one 308 rifle, one 7mm rifle ,one 8mm rifle, approximately 100 rounds of ammunition ,nine magazines of various calibers, two daggers and two binoculars including one large-sized.

Police confirmed that the explosive material - two RPG-7 rounds and two hand grenades - was safely defused with the assistance of the Bomb Disposal Squad.

A case has been registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), Section 15-A of the Arms Act and Section 5 of the Explosives Act.

Further investigation is underway, while police have intensified efforts to trace and arrest other suspects linked to the case.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2025