Court exonerates businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor accused of kidnapping his daughters

LONDON: Umar Farooq Zahoor has been acquitted by the magistrate court in Lahore from the charges related to fake CNIC, kidnapping of his own twin daughters and passport offences, according to a joint investigation team (JIT) report.

No evidence links Zahoor to the fake offences, resulting in his exoneration and termination from the additional investigation, according to a report of Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) JIT, which was presented before the Lahore court.

The JIT of three senior FIA directors constituted to investigate various charges, including the kidnapping of Zahoor's daughters — Zainab Umar and Zuneirah Umar — and other offences against the Dubai-based businessman, has given a clean chit after the probe.

The findings in the JIT report affirmed the innocence of Zahoor, leading to his discharge from the case with no requirement for additional investigation or probe.

The JIT report states a lack of direct or credible evidence connecting the accused to the offence. Subsequently, Zahoor is declared innocent and discharged from any additional investigation, it adds.

Umar Farooq Zahoor, previously declared a proclaimed offender, had contested the order's validity in the Lahore High Court. Following this, he applied to FIA Lahore, seeking the inclusion of his statement in the investigation and as part of his defence. This led to the formation of a JIT, and on October 16, 2023, Zahoor and his twin daughters landed at Islamabad International Airport and appeared before the JIT.

Both the girls recorded their statements before the JIT and later appeared before the judicial magistrate in Islamabad to reiterate under section 164 CrPC.

Both teenagers emphatically stated that they were not kidnapped or trafficked by their father and are happily living with him in Dubai. Their father is responsibly covering all their expenses, including education and health, they told the court. They expressed their desire to remain with their father and were disassociated from their mother's allegations. They declared their father's innocence, refuting the claims in the FIR made by their mother Khushbakht Mirza (who is known as Sophia Mirza in the showbiz industry).

In 2019, Kushbakht, a resident of Cavalry Ground Lahore, submitted an application, claiming marriage to Zahoor in 2006 and the birth of twin daughters on June 7, 2007.

The couple separated in the same year and entered into litigation for the guardianship rights of their twin daughters. During the guardian petition, custody was granted to Khushbakht (mother), and on May 20, 2008, Zahoor was permitted to meet the daughters for an hour each week.

In June 2009, Zahoor, with the help of a friend, allegedly kidnapped his twin daughters. They were charged with using fake CNICs and passports for Zahoor's twin daughters, facilitating their unlawful immigration to Dubai in 2009.

While the custody litigation was ongoing at the lower courts in Pakistan between Zahoor and Khushbakht, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Shariah court ruled on November 1, 2010, in favour of Zahoor and gave him absolute custody of the daughters.

Investigations established that the FIA was asked by Shahzad Akbar to help Khushbakht. Zahoor’s predicament started when the FIA Lahore's Anti Human Trafficking Circle proceeded with the registration of a criminal case against Zahoor on the complaint of his ex-wife over allegations of kidnapping his daughters.

At the same time, the FIA Corporate Crime Circle Lahore also initiated an inquiry against Zahoor over allegations of fraud and money laundering of around Rs16 billion on the complaint of the same complainant Khushbakht Mirza trying to frame her ex-husband.

The complaint made its way to the PTI government's federal cabinet agenda via the Interior Ministry, being run by then-Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) chairman Shehzad Akbar, and the federal government gave a go-ahead to the FIA to probe the alleged fraud of over Rs16 billion by Zahoor and his relative Saleem Ahmad.

In the pursuance of the false and frivolous criminal cases registered against Umar Farooq Zahoor: his name was placed on the exit control list (ECL); non-bailable warrants in one of the FIRs were obtained from the court without fulfilling the legal requirements and on the basis of said non-bailable warrants, his passport and CNIC were blacklisted and Red Warrants were issued through Interpol by National Crime Bureau (NCB) Pakistan for arresting Zahoor.

The Constitution of Interpol does not permit issuance of red notices in the family and civil disputes, however; the FIA added heinous offences in the FIR registered against Zahoor in order to apprehend him through Interpol.

In the last year, Zahoor’s name was removed from the Interpol list and he has been cleared in all cases by the magistrate court of Lahore.