UAE-based businessman acquitted of daughters’ kidnap charge

LONDON: Dubai-based businessman Umar Farooq Zahoor has been acquitted by the Magistrate Court in Lahore from the charges related to fake Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC), kidnapping of his own twin daughters and passport offenses.

Judicial Magistrate Imran Abid ruled that the discharge report of the JIT (Joint Investigation Team of the Federal Investigation Agency) is well-reasoned and factually justified that Umar Farooq Zahoor was not in Pakistan in 2009 when the FIR was registered against him.

“Case against Umar Farooq Zahoor seems to be registered not as per merit and law. Careful perusal of the record show that it is evident that insufficient evidence is found against the accused Umar Farooq Zahoor and there is no direct, corroborative and credible documentary as well as any incriminating material available on record to connect the accused with the commission of offences.”

The JIT of three senior FIA directors was constituted to investigate various charges, including kidnapping of his own daughters Zainab Umar and Zuneirah Umar, and other offenses against Dubai-based businessman Umer Farooq Zahoor.

The findings in the JIT report affirmed the innocence of Umar Farooq Zahoor, leading to his discharge from the case with no requirement for additional investigation or probe. Umer Farooq, previously declared a Proclaimed Offender, had contested the order’s validity before Lahore High Court. Following this, he applied to FIA Lahore, seeking 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, Umar Farooq Zahoor and his twin daughters Zainab Umar and Zuhaira Umar landed at Islamabad International Airport and appeared before the JIT.

Both Zainab Umar and Zuhaira Umar 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 disassociated from their mother’s allegations. They declared their father’s innocence, refuting the claims in the FIR made by their mother Khush Bakht Mirza (who is known as Sophia Mirza in the showbiz industry).

In 2019, Kush Bakhat Mirza, a resident of Cavalry Ground Lahore, submitted an application, claiming marriage to Umar Farooq in 2006 and the birth of twin daughters, Zainab Umar and Zunaira Umar, on 07.06.2007.

The couple separated in the same year and entered into litigation for guardianship rights of their twin daughters. During the guardian petition, custody was granted to Khush Bakht Mirza (mother), and on 20.05.2008, Umar Farooq (father) was permitted to meet the daughters for an hour each week.

In June 2009, it was alleged that Umer Farooq, with the help of a friend, kidnapped his twin daughters, Zainab Umar and Zunaira Umar. They were charged with using fake CNICs and passports for Umer Farooq’s twin daughters, facilitating their unlawful immigration to Dubai in 2009.