Daily Times

The Punjab forensic lab on Friday conducted the polygraph test of Zahir Jaffer, the main suspect in the Noor Mukaddam murder case, a private TV channel reported.

The reports said that the experts at the lab asked 20 questions from the accused. They added that the lab also conducted forensics analysis of the CCTV footage of the incident. The sources said that before the test Zahir kept on misguiding the officials by making excuses, adding that he also acted as if he had fainted. The accused was brought to Lahore by the Islamabad police under heavy security.

Two days ago, an Islamabad court had remanded Zahir to police custody for another three days. During the hearing, public prosecutor Sajid Cheema had told the judge responded that the CCTV camera video of the incident had been acquired and suspect Zahir had to be taken to Lahore for a forensic exam of the footage.

The public prosecutor had requested the court to grant an extension in Zahir’s remand for another three days.

The lawyer of the suspect had said that if any forensic exam is to be done, it should be done by taking photos. Weapons and mobile phones have been recovered, so no further physical remand is required, the lawyer had argued.

The plaintiff’s lawyer had said that the suspect has to be taken to Lahore. “If a photo was enough, we would not have asked for [the] remand,” he had responded.

The public prosecutor had said that even in the case of Usman Mirza, they had taken all the suspects to Lahore. “We want to take them to Lahore so that we can find out if the video is edited,” he had said.

Later, the court granted a three-day extension in the remand. Zahir will now be produced before the court on July 31.

Noor, 27, was murdered in the federal capital on July 20, in the city’s F-7 area, according to police. She is the daughter of Shaukat Mukadam, who served as Pakistan’s ambassador to South Korea and Kazakhstan.

The Islamabad police arrested Zahir on the night of July 20 from his house where, according to Noor’s parents, he killed her with a sharp instrument and severed her head. The gruesome incident sparked a nationwide campaign seeking justice for her, with #JusticeforNoor becoming a top trend on Twitter.

Meanwhile, a local court in Islamabad adjourned on Friday the hearing on the bail pleas of parents of Zahir Jaffer, accused of brutally murdering 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, till August 4.

The accused’s parents, Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee, are facing a trial for their alleged role in the murder. Adjourning the proceeding, the court ordered the two sides in the case to furnish conclusive arguments on the next hearing.

Additional sessions judge Muhammad Sohail heard the bail pleas of the two accused today. Zakir Jaffer’s counsel Raja Rizwan Abbasi and Adamjee’s counsel Asad Kamal appeared before the court.

Kamal told the court that he had arrived from Lahore, saying his client, a woman, had been put behind bars without any justified reasoning.

Speaking on the occasion, Zakir Jaffer’s counsel said that summer vacations were set to start from Monday (August 2), urging the court to schedule the next hearing for tomorrow. However, the judge denied the request.

The court inquired about the case’s investigation officer, at which the counsel for the prosecutor, Sajid Cheema, said he was in Lahore at the moment and had the file of the case with him.

Cheema added that the investigation officer was in Lahore for the forensic exam of the incident’s Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage.

On the occasion, the court approved Noor Mukadam’s father, Shoukat Ali Mukadam’s, plea for more time to arrange a counsel to represent him.

The court directed him to submit credentials of his counsel today (Friday) so that it could be made part of the record.

On July 28, a sessions court extended the physical remand of Zahir Jaffer to three days. Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Shoaib Akhtar ordered the police to produce the accused before the court on July 31, on expiration of the physical remand.

The brutal murder and beheading of Noor Mukadam sparked nationwide outrage with thousands of people calling on the authorities to take the case to its logical end.