Court sends Latif Afridi murder case suspect on two-day physical remand

A local court in Peshawar on Tuesday sent Adnan Afridi, the prime suspect in the case of senior lawyer Latif Afridi's murder, for a two-day physical remand.

Latif, the former Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president, was killed after being shot six times at the Peshawar High Court (PHC) bar room on Monday, in what police said was a shooting prompted by family feud.

Adnan, who had been arrested from the crime scene right after the shooting, was presented before Judicial Magistrate Badar Munir's court amid strict security today.

The police requested the court to grant physical remand of Adnan for investigations into the murder case. They briefed the court that the suspect has admitted to "killing" Latif in his confessional statement, citing "personal enmity" as the reason.

"Suspect's custory is required for the further investigations," the police official said.

The court accepted request and remanded the suspect in police' custody for two days.

Latif Afridi's funeral prayers offered in Peshawar

The former SCBA president's funeral prayers were offered at Bagh-e-Naran in Peshawar's Hayatabad area amid strict security.

The funeral was attended by PHC Chief Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan, other judges, senior lawyers, politicians and social activists. Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Awami National Party leader Iftikhar Hussain, and Jamat-e-Islami leader Inayatullah were also present.

Later, Latif's mortal remains were sent to his hometown for burial. 

'Big loss'

Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial termed Latif's murder a "big loss".

"Latif Afridi was a great personality," CJP Bandial said during a hearing of case in the apex court.

He labelled the murder of the senior lawyer an unfortunate incident.

He asked lawyer Iftikhar Gillani whether Latif belonged to Kohat. 

However, the lawyer told the CJP that he belonged to the frontier region. 

The killing

Former SCBA president Latif was shot dead inside the PHC's bar room on Monday. 

The senior lawyer was moved to the Lady Reading Hospital after the shooting but was pronounced dead upon arrival. The medical facility's administration said that six bullets were fired at Latif.

Speaking to the media, SSP Operations Kashif Abbasi said the killing seemed to be an upshot of a blood feud between the two families; however, further investigation was underway.

When asked about the security arrangements in the high court, the police official said they were looking into it and action would be taken if any lapse was found.

It may be noted that Latif was acquitted in a murder case by Swat Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Aftab Afridi and his three family members a few weeks ago.

He was booked along with nine others in the case of the judge's assassination.

As per details, Aftab Afridi, his wife, a one-and-half-year grandson and daughter-in-law were en route to Islamabad from Peshawar via Swabi when unidentified assailants attacked his car near the Ambar Interchange in April 2021.

However, Latif, the then-SCBA president, had denied his involvement in the incident and said that he and his son had been falsely implicated in the case. He had also assured the authorities of fully cooperating with the relevant agencies.

The judge’s family, however, in a press conference rejected the verdict and requested the high court for justice, saying they have evidence of the lawyer’s involvement in the murder.