A judicial magistrate on Monday allowed an application filed by the police seeking exhumation of the body of a youth who was recently allegedly murdered by his own friends who then burned his body in his car in the Hub area.
Mustafa Amir, 23, had left his DHA residence on January 6 in his car but did not return home. Two weeks later, his family received a ransom call. Police arrested the victim's friend Armughan after an encounter but could not obtain his physical remandfrom a court for interrogation.
Armughan's friend Sheraz Hussain Bukhari, alias Shavez, was later arrested and during initial questioning, he disclosed that Armughanhad called Amir at his DHA residence, after which they murdered him and burned the body in his car in Hub.
On Monday, Investigation Officer (IO) Muhammad Ali moved an application before Judicial Magistrate (West) Syeda Urooj Fatima Naqvi seeking permission to exhume the victim's body for a medical examination to ascertain the cause of his death.
After hearing the IO, the magistrate accepted his plea and ordered the provincial health secretary and director general health to constitute a medical board for the exhumation and post-mortem. "The entire process shall be carried out within the shortest possible time but shall not exceed seven days," the magistrate instructed.
In the application, the IO recalled that initially, an abduction case was lodged at the Darakhshan police station against unknown suspects on the complaint of the victim’s mother on January 7. He informed the court that on January 25, the complainant received calls and messages from an international number, demanding a ransom of Rs20 million for her son’s release. Following this development, Section the 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) were invoked in the case, and its investigation was transferred to the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC), he added.
During the investigation, Armughan was found involved in Amir’s disappearance, the court was told. Acting on this information, a police raid was conducted at the suspect's residence on February 8, the IO said, adding that upon the police’s arrival, Armughan opened fire on them, injuring DSP Ahsan Zulfiqar and Constable Muhammad Iqbal.
The suspect was later arrested, and a cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from his possession, leading to registration of two separate cases against him. The IO stated that the suspect's two employees, Ghulam Mustafa and Muhammad Zohaib, disclosed that Armughan along with his friend had possibly killed Mustafa. He said police collected samples from a washed carpet at the suspect’s bungalow and also obtained DNA samples from the victim’s mother, which were later declared by a forensic lab to have matched.
The IO said that on February 14, Sheraz was arrested and during interrogation, he disclosed that on the night of January 6, he along with his friend Armughan tortured the victim before shooting him. He added that they stuffed the body in the trunk of Amir’s car and drove to Balochistan where they set the car ablaze.
The police officer said that upon contact with the Balochistan police, it transpired that a charred body in the trunk of a burnt car was found within the limits of the Dhoraji police station on January 11 and a murder FIR was subsequently lodged by the police.
He said the body was brought to the Edhi Centre Mosa Lane and later buried as an unclaimed body in the Edhi graveyard in Mauripur within the Mochko police remits on January 16.
Investigations
According to police, suspect Armughan repeatedly changed his statements and issued threats during interrogation. Initially, he insisted that Mustafa was his friend and questioned why he would kill him. However, he later confessed to the murder, only to retract his statement again. Throughout the investigation, Armughan kept altering his version of events.
At first, he denied the presence of his accomplice, Sheraz, at the crime scene. Police described Armughan as having an aggressive temperament, noting that his accomplice Sheraz and other friends feared him.
Investigative experts have revealed that Mustafa was killed in Karachi, while his body and car were set on fire in Dureji, Balochistan. Investigators suggested that the hotel near Dureji, where Armughan and Sheraz had a meal, could provide valuable testimony. Additionally, the Suzuki driver who transported them to Surjani and the online car driver who took them from Surjani to Defence should be made witnesses.
The ANPR S4 system can retrieve video footage of the car and suspects sitting in the front seat, as Sheraz has now disclosed the exact date and time of their movements.
Furthermore, Sheraz’s mobile records and internet usage data can confirm their route from Defence to Dureji and back to Karachi between the nights of January 6 and 7. Experts warn that without solid evidence and arrests in the Dureji case, the Darakhshan case may have legal loopholes that could weaken the prosecution.
Armughan’s father, Kamran Qureshi, arrived outside the Karachi Press Club on Monday evening and spoke to the media. He stated that on February 8, he received a call from his son while he was in Changa Manga, Punjab. Kamran Qureshi claimed he then contacted his brothers, Asif and Bilal, asking them to go check on the situation. During this time, an exchange of gunfire took place. He continuously called Armughan while driving toward Karachi and later found out that his son had surrendered.
Kamran alleged that Armughan was placed in a vehicle, plainclothes officers broke cameras, and a bag containing Armughan’s laptop and personal belongings was taken.
He claimed that even Armughan’s mother, Sara—his ex-wife—was unable to retrieve the bag, which is now missing and was not in the custody of the AVCC. Kamran Qureshi insisted that his son ran a software house, not a call centre, and that the missing bag contained software house data. He justified the presence of weapons in their possession as necessary for their protection. He also alleged that during the so-called "encounter," his son had even dialed 15 (police emergency helpline).
Upon arriving in Karachi the next morning, he searched for Armughan all day but received no information. When he finally met him in jail, Armughan was vomiting due to his condition. Kamran Qureshi denied any prior knowledge of Mustafa Amir, stating, I heard his name for the first time on February 8. I had never seen him with my son before, nor had they studied together.” He claimed that when he asked Armughan about Mustafa, his son said Mustafa used to sell drugs and had a prior drug-related case against him.
Kamran criticized the conflicting reports regarding Mustafa’s body, saying: “First, they said the body was found in Malir, then they said it was buried at home, then they said it was fed to a lion, and finally, they claimed it was burned.”
Calling the police a mafia, he stated that “the entire system needs an overhaul, and bribery will no longer be tolerated.” He defended his son, saying, “My son is innocent. He has done nothing wrong.”
Claiming to be an American national and the country’s first rock star, he dismissed the kidnapping-for-ransom allegations against Armughan as baseless and instead accused Bilal of being behind the entire case. Kamran further claimed that it was Sheraz who killed Mustafa, not Armughan.
Regarding the fairness of the judicial process, he stated, “I have little hope for justice, but even the courts are under pressure.” When asked why his son “opened fire on the police,” Kamran responded, “If robbers break into my house, wouldn’t I shoot?” He admitted that his son “uses drugs” and should receive treatment. However, he expressed distrust in both the police and the country’s legal system.