The body exhumed by a medical board in Moach Goth has been identified as that of Mustafa Amir as per the findings of a lab at the University of Karachi (KU), the police said on Saturday.
Amir, 23, was kidnapped and allegedly murdered by his friends — Armaghan and Sheraz — in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on January 6. According to the police, the youth’s friends stuffed his body in the trunk of his car and torched it in the Hub area of Balochistan.
A charred body, believed to be of Amir, was exhumed yesterday at a Karachi graveyard by a medical board, formed as per a court order.
Crime Investigation Agency Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Muquddus Haider told Dawn.com that the police received a report from KU’s forensic science lab which matched DNA samples from the remains with those taken from the victim’s mother and the crime scene at Armaghan’s home in Defence Housing Authority.
The DIG appreciated the performance of the Sindh Forensic DNA Lab for providing results in a record time. “Experts at the varsity remained at the facility throughout Friday night and submitted their findings to the police on Saturday,” he said.
Regarding the investigation, DIG Haider said investigators had taken both Armaghan and another suspect, Sheraz, to the spot in Balochistan where the victim’s body was disposed of. “The accused identified the place from where the torched car and body of the victim were recovered,” he told Dawn.com.
“Armaghan had suspected that Mustafa was ‘interfering in his business’,” Haider added, stating that this appeared to be the main motive behind the murder.
Earlier this month, police arrested Armaghan for injuring cops during an attempt to resist his detention in connection with Amir’s kidnapping case. He was initially sent to jail but was handed into police custody on Tuesday for four days after the Sindh High Court set aside earlier anti-terrorism (ATC) orders which had been challenged.
Another suspect, Sheraz aka Shavez Bukhari, was remanded in police custody by an ATC on February 16.
Suspects’ physical remand extended by 5 days
Earlier today, an ATC in Karachi extended Armaghan and Sheraz’s physical remand of suspects by five days.
Both Armaghan and Sheraz were presented before ATC No.3 today by the police.
Investigation Officer (IO) Muhammad Ali requested a 14-day physical remand of both suspects, contending that the statements of Armaghan’s two employees were yet to be recorded.
The IO added that weapons and a laptop allegedly recovered from Armaghan’s house were also to be sent for forensic analysis.
Besides the murder case, first information reports (FIRs) against Armaghan have also been filed over injuring policemen during the February 8 shoot-out and recovery of imported illegal weapons.
Regarding investigations on the two held suspects, DIG Haider said yesterday that the murder might be the outcome of a “financial issue”.
He said that investigators grilled Armaghan on why he chose Hub to dispose of the body and Mustafa’s car. He said the suspect was not giving a “reasonable” response although he admitted that it was their first visit to the area.
The DIG said that it raised suspicions about the involvement of other suspects in the case.
