ABBOTTABAD: The police have arrested three people over the kidnapping and murder of woman doctor Dr Warda Mushtaq here and are searching for the main accused.

District police officer Haroon Rasheed told reporters here that the body of Dr Warda, who had been missing since last Thursday, was recovered from a deep ditch in Thandiani Lari Banota area after an effort of more than six hours.

He said the body was handed over to the doctor’s father after doctors performed a postmortem.

The doctor, who worked at the DHQ Hospital, left the premises with friend Rida, the wife of businessman Waheed Ahmad, to get back 67-tola gold she had given to her two years ago for safe keeping before going abroad. However, she went missing afterward.

Body of missing Dr Warda Mushtaq recovered; close friend last seen with her pleads innocence; incident widely condemned

The CCTV camera footage last showed Dr Warda with Rida in Jadoon Plaza.

On the complaint of the doctor’s father, Mushtaq Ahmad, the police registered an FIR under Section 365 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Rida, her husband and unidentified people and began an investigation.

The complainant claimed that on return from Dubai, Dr Warda asked her friend to return her gold but the latter dillydallied. He said her daughter was last seen with Rida.

On the other hand, Rida formally informed the DPO that she held a stamp paper about the handover of gold.

She claimed that she returned 67 tolas of gold or gold jewellery to Dr Warda at the Jadoon Plaza on Thursday, while the latter handed over five bank cheques of Rs8.3 million she borrowed from her before parting.

“After leaving the plaza, I had no contact with Dr Warda or any information about her,” she said.

The woman insisted that she learned about the doctor’s disappearance from the cantonment police over the phone when she was at a wedding reception.

She pleaded innocence and said her businessman husband was being dragged into the matter to defame him.

The doctor’s colleagues and activists of the Provincial Doctors Association and Grand Health Alliance staged a demonstration and boycotted hospital duties against the murder.

They also blocked the main Karakoram Highway, assailing the police for “delayed action.”

Doctors at the DHQ Hospital boycotted OPD services and examined emergency cases only.

Nurses, paramedics and support workers from other departments also joined the protest, demanding action against the killers of Dr Warda.

The DPO claimed that Rida, on the pretext of returning gold, took Dr Warda to her under-construction house in Rehman Street of Jadoon Plaza in a car, handed her over to kidnappers Shamrez and Nadeem and went home.

He said the police obtained CCTV footage, CDR records and technical assistance, conducted raids, questioned more than 35 suspects and finally arrested Rida, Nadeem Zeb and Pervez. He said special teams had been sent to Peshawar to arrest the main accused, Shamrez.

The accused revealed that Dr Warda was kidnapped, killed and buried in a pit in the Lari Banota forests. The police recovered the body and sent it to the hospital for postmortem.

The DPO said the police had seized vehicles used in the kidnapping along with stamp papers and cheques related to the gold transaction, while postmortem, forensic and site inspection reports were being examined.

He promised punishment for the culprits.

Provincial police chief has issued special instructions to investigators led by the DPO about the case.

Meanwhile, the District Bar Association Haripur condemned the murder and demanded punitive action against the relevant policemen for negligence. They said the accused should be tried under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

District chief of Jamaat-i-Islami Haripur Tahir Atiq Sidiqi also condemned the murder and declared it the failure of authorities to protect public life, honour and property.

Awami National Party provincial president Mian Iftikhar Hussain condemned the kidnapping and murder of Dr Warda and said the incident had raised serious questions about the safety of women.

In a statement, Mr Hussain insisted that the doctor’s murder could have been prevented had authorities taken the matter seriously.

He demanded exemplary punishment for culprits.

Correspondents Muhammad Sadaqat from Haripur and Ali Hazrat Bacha from Peshawar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2025