Noor Mukadam’s case: IO says murder weapon did not carry Zahir’s fingerprints

ISLAMABAD: The investigation officer testified in court on Monday that the knife used in the murder of Noor Mukadam did not have the fingerprints of Zahir Jaffer, the primary suspect in the case, according to the local media.

Inquiry Officer (IO) Abdul Sattar stated that Zahir was implicated in the investigation since Noor’s body was located at his residence, which is where he lives.
According to Sikandar Zulqarnain, a lawyer for the defendant, there were no eyewitnesses before the police save for the forensic report. IO further told the court that Jaffer’s clothes had no blood marks.

At a house in Islamabad’s exclusive F-7/4 district, Mukadam, the daughter of a former Pakistani ambassador, was discovered beheaded. This atrocity sparked public indignation and dominated headlines. On the day of the murder, the main suspect was taken into custody and turned over to the police after being tied up by employees of a counselling centre with which he was affiliated. Since then, he has been held at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.

Punjab ForensicAgency’s forensic report dated August 2021 verified that the fingerprints collected on a gun at the scene of Noor’s murder were those of Zahir Jaffer.

In Monday’s cross-examination, the IO described the events of the night of July 20 and 21, 2021, during which he was cross-examined. The investigation by the police reveals several gaps in the case.

Constables Sikandar Hayat, Abid Latif, and Aitizaz came to the crime site with their families along with ASI Zubair Mazhar and woman constable Aqsa Rani, according to the IO. Noor’s father Shaukat Mukadam was also at the scene. While ASI Mazhar was with him at the crime site, he had written in the police journal, it was not accurate. Abdul Sattar went on to say that he arrived sooner than expected.

According to the officer’s testimony, Noor’s body was taken from Zahir’s residence in Islamabad’s Sector F-7 to the mortuary around 11:45 pm on July 20. Her murder occurred around 12:10 a.m. on July 21st, according to the death certificate she got from the Polyclinic Hospital in Islamabad.

The doctor’s note also said that Noor’s body arrived at the hospital around 12:10 a.m. on July 21, according to another document given by the doctor.

The IO stated that neither the crime map nor the basement contained Zahir’s presence on the crime scene while discussing the defendant’s presence on the site. While the police escorted the victim’s father and his friend Jawad Jahan to retrieve the dead woman’s phone, they did not capture Noor’s phone’s IMEI number.

Video recordings made by CCTV cameras situated elsewhere in the house, however, were not logged in as evidence during the investigation of the case as witnesses, he added.

In the meanwhile, the hearing of the case was postponed until January 26, 2018. In Jaffer’s Islamabad residence on July 20, 2021, the 27-year-old victim, Noor Mukadam, was brutally killed. On October 14, six personnel of Therapy Works, a counselling and psychotherapy centre, were indicted in the case against Zahir, his parents, and their domestic staff.