ISLAMABAD: A woman has been arrested in the murder of a military official, and more than a dozen other suspects have also been apprehended.

Police officials told Dawn the woman was with the victim when he was murdered. She was a friend of the victim and had known him for three or four years.

Police said she was produced in the court of the magistrate after being arrested and remanded into police custody for two days.

Police officials said the suspect is from Sialkot and was working for a private airline. She had been living in the capital for four years. She was arrested after her statement before the police was found to be suspicious.

The officials they have yet to ascertain the motive for the murder, adding that the woman has been arrested as a suspect in the murder.

More than a dozen other suspects have also been taken into police custody. Some of them were people who were found to be present in the area when the incident took place. They are being interrogated and the information collected from them is being verified.

Two teams are investigating the murder on different lines, police officials said, with assistance from an intelligence agency and the military. So far, police are focusing on five possible motives that include robbery and a personal dispute.

The Criminal Intelligence Agency is investigating the case on a technical and scientific basis, they said. It is also collecting, examining and verifying human intelligence in connection with the murder.

The team is also verifying suspects’ statements, while the other investigation team from the operations division is selecting suspects, picking them up for interrogation and collecting clues.

They said investigators are collecting CCTV footage. A team has also been formed to survey G-9 and collect CCTV footage from surrounding homes located on all the routes leading to the crime scene. Investigators have already collected a lot of footage and are examining it, they added.

The woman who has been arrested has also been asked to help with sketches of the shooter. Details of the deceased’s engagements in the twin cities after he finished with official business are also being collected.

They said this will help investigators determine if the victim was followed.

Local police and other departments are conducting search operations in the area around G-9, the officials said. The wooded areas, nullah and slums in H-8 and I-8 were searched as the man’s killers could have used these routes to dispose of the weapon or escape.

People travelling in vehicles, including passenger and loading vehicles, were also searched on Kashmir Highway in G-9.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2019