Muhammad Waseem, brother and suspected murderer of slain model Qandeel Baloch, was presented at the court of the Additional District and Session Judge on Wednesday and the court granted five days physical remand.
Police also requested the court for the suspect's judicial remand at which the judge became angry. The court wanted to know why the police was requesting for a judicial remand when the three-day physical remand of the suspect had not yet expired.
After which the civil judge Muhammad Sarfaraz Anjum stated that for the time being he could not hear the case. He refused to conduct the proceedings of the case.
Before this, the court had asked Muhammad Waseem if he was ready to have his DNA test taken to which the suspect had given his assent.
Waseem had confessed to killing model Qandeel Baloch and claimed that he had done it for honour. Qandeel Baloch had been strangled to death in her house in Multan on Saturday.
Qandeel Baloch's mother had accused Mufti Abdul Qawi and Ashiq Hussain, Qandeel's former husband, of being involved with Muhammad Waseem in the model's murder.
Qandeel Baloch was infamous for her bold Facebook posts which put her at odds with some of the conservative elements of society while others appreciated her for breaking social taboos. The Multan city police officer suspended on Tuesday an officer investigating the murder of model Qandeel Baloch for showing negligence.
The social media celebrity was strangled to death on Saturday, allegedly by her brother in the name of honour.
CPO Azhar Akram summoned Muzaffarabad police station SHO Saeed Gujjar and investigation officer Ilyas Haider to his office and asked why Qandeel’s brother Waseem had been produced before an area magistrate only a day after a local court had granted his three-day physical remand. After hearing them, the CPO suspended the investigation officer and handed over the task of probe to a woman inspector, Attiya Jaffari.
Since the magistrate sent the suspect on a 14-day judicial remand on Tuesday, police could not take him to a forensic lab in Lahore for DNA and polygraph tests to complete the investigation. Police later filed an appeal in the court to get physical remand of the suspect, which would be decided on Wednesday (today).
According to a police officer, the course of investigation requires DNA and polygraph tests to verify, establish and evaluate the truthfulness of statements of a suspect.
Polygraph (usually referred to as a lie detector) is an instrument which measures and records physiological changes in blood pressure, pulse, respiration and skin conductivity while the subject answers a series of questions, in an anticipation that deceptive answers will produce physiological responses that can be differentiated from those associated with non-deceptive answers.
CPO Akram said the new woman investigation officer had issued notices to various people, including Mufti Abdul Qavi and the slain model’s former husband Ashiq Hussain, under Section 160 of the Pakistan Penal Code in the light of the statement of Qandeel’s mother.
He said police had obtained the mobile phone data of Qandeel and her brother and would take the suspect to the forensic lab for DNA and other clinical tests.
The CPO said he had constituted two teams headed by the SSP operations and prosecutors would also be consulted to make the challan effective. He said police were also considering hiring the services of a private criminal lawyer.
“We are preparing the case in a way that its trial is concluded within three months,” he said, adding that a letter had been dispatched to the Karachi corps commander for recording the statement of Aslam Shaheen, the elder brother of Qandeel, who is serving in the army there.
The CPO disclosed that suspect Waseem had made calls to some people soon after the murder.
Meanwhile, talking to Dawn, Qandeel’s father Mohammad Azam and mother Anwar Bibi said the name of Aslam Shaheen was included in the FIR by them mistakenly and they would request the court to exclude his name from the case. They said they would ensure that Waseem was punished.
