Karachi schoolteacher found dead in mysterious circumstances

Karachi: A schoolteacher who went missing from her school in the PIB Colony on Wednesday morning was found dead later in the afternoon in the Korangi Industrial Area.
Though her murder remains shrouded in mystery, investigators unearthed several pieces of information that provided them the right direction in the probe.
Gulshan SP Abid Qaimkhani told The News that CCTV footage provided by the school administration had helped them identify a woman, Fiza, who is now the prime suspect in the case.
“The video shows that Quratul Ain reached the school at about 7:45am. However, she never entered the premises as her friend, Fiza, who was waiting by the gate, asked her to enter a car parked nearby. That car was being driven by a man and there was another female passenger aboard,” said the SP.
“We have picked up Fiza and shifted her to the investigation unit. She identified the other two occupants of the car – Baqar, the driver, and Sukaina, the other passenger – and told us that they had taken her to a guesthouse in DHA.
“Other than that, Fiza has not offered us much more information and has been giving contradictory statements.”
Qaimkhani said Sukaina, who was also brought in for questioning, disclosed some interesting details regarding the case.
“Sukaina says that Manzar, Quratul Ain’s fiancé, had
told Fiza and her to pick Quratul Ain up from school,” he said.
“According to Sukaina, Manzar and Fiza have been friends for a while now and there had been a dispute between Manzar and Quratul Ain over Fiza’s apparent interest in Manzar.”
The SP said Fiza had told Quratul Ain that they were going to the Arts Council. However, after reaching the school she called Qurat and got her to sit in the car by saying that they were going to the Arts Council where Manzar would come and they would settle the matter.
Fiza also told Quratul Ain that there would be an award ceremony at the Arts Council and she would ask the authorities to announce her name for Rs50,000 reward money.
Sukayna said that while in the car, Manzar was constantly talking to Fiza by phone and car stopped outside a guest house in Defence.
After reaching there, she said she found some “strange-looking people” leaving and entering the guest house and refused to go inside. When Fiza took Quratul Ain with her inside the guest house, Sukayna told the driver leave.
SP Qaimkhani said that after getting a statement from Sukayna they got effective leads in the case and again interrogated Fiza thoroughly, upon which she said she was there to settle the matter. During the conversation, they took an ailing Quratul Ain to a private hospital, which referred her to Jinnah Hospital. Fiza said she did not know what happened later.
The SP said Fiza was still giving dubious statements and during the interrogation the police searched her cellphone on which she found pictures of Quratul Ain in which her face and hands were tied up with rope and the room was the same of the guest house.
He added that they were searching for Manzar, and an examination showed clear marks of torture on the neck and other body parts.
The marks led to suspicion that she was killed by the accused persons after strangulation or she was injected with poison, he said.
However, the SP said, they asked an MLO of the JPMC to conduct a chemical examination.
Additional Police Surgeon Dr Jalil said MLO Noorun Nisa conducted the postmortem examination of the victim and had also took samples from the body for chemical examination.
However, she said the exact cause of death would be clear after the examination report arrived.