Witnesses recount events of Jan 6 when Mustafa Amir visited Armaghan and was never seen again

Two key witnesses deposed against prime suspect Armaghan and his accomplice Sheraz before a judicial magistrate in the Mustafa Amir kidnap and murder case on Thursday.

The police brought both suspects to the City Courts with their faces covered with a piece of cloth after an anti-terrorism court granted five days’ extension of their physical remand. In the presence of the suspects, witnesses Ghulam Mustafa and Zohaib, who were servants of Armaghan, recorded their statements before Judicial Magistrate (South) Asim Alsam under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).

The two servants were present at the bungalow on January 6 when Mustafa is purported to have visited Armaghan and both witnesses washed bloodstains on a carpet on the directives of their employer.

Defence lawyers Abid Zaman and Khurram Abbas Awan were also in attendance. The witnesses provided a chilling account of the events that happened on Jan 6 and thereafter. Mustafa testified that he had been hired to work as domestic help at the bungalow. He said their boss Armaghan lived on the upper floor of the bungalow, where they were not allowed to go except when called.

He said he was at his home in Hyderabad on new year’s eve when he received a call from his boss, who told him to come as his friends would be visiting. “I informed him that my family was not giving me permission to leave. The boss responded, ‘Alright, then come tomorrow, but make sure to come early,” he said, adding that when he arrived at the bungalow next day, there were a lot of dishes scattered around, making it seem like many people had been there.

“On January 6, at around 9pm, a thin boy came and went the upstairs,” the witness said. “He was wearing trousers and a jacket with a hood. I could not see his face. An hour and a half later, he heard shouting and abusive language, which was followed by two to three gunshots.”

He recalled that upon hearing gunshots, they ran out of the room. However, Armaghan reassured them not to worry and instructed them to stay inside the room and not to go outside. “A little while later, the boss called us and told us to bring showers and cloth upstairs. When we went upstairs, we saw blood there, and the boss told us to clean it. There were also a pair of trousers lying there,” Ghulam Mustafa said.

“A short-statured boy wearing glasses was also present. After cleaning the blood, the boss instructed us to put the trousers in a plastic bag and place it near the laptop. The person who had gone upstairs earlier was no longer there.”

“The boss told us to go downstairs, so we stayed in our room. Later, we felt hungry and stepped out to heat some rice. When we went to lock the main gate, we noticed that the black car in which the boy had arrived was no longer there.”

The witness said that next day at around 1:30pm, they woke up to someone banging on the gate and calling out his name, “Mustafa.” When they opened the gate, they saw the boss and the boy wearing glasses [Sheraz]. The boss asked them why they had locked the gate, to which they replied that they thought he had gone to sleep,” he added.

That evening, the boss called them again and said the bloodstains hadn’t been cleaned properly and asked them to remove them, he mentioned, adding that the trousers were not there. “After that, the boss gave us leave.” A few days later, after they returned from leave, the police raided the premises, Ghulam Mustafa said. “Gunshots were being fired from upstairs and there was an exchange of fire [between police and the one upstairs]. We were hiding in our room. Two people were injured. We managed to slip away,” he said.

“We returned on February 10 to collect our belongings but the police arrested us.” Mustafa told the court that they pointed out the bloodstains they had cleaned in the presence of the police, who lifted the carpet and found blood underneath. They collected pieces of the carpet.”

Later, Zohaib recorded his testimony, sharing a similar account. At the end of their statement, the court asked the witnesses if they could identify the suspects present in the court, to which they picked out the suspects.

Remand

An anti-terrorism court on Thursday handed over two suspects to the police for five more days in the kidnap and murder case.

Investigating officer Muhammad Ali produced Armaghan and Sheraz before the ATC-III judge in the judicial complex inside the central prison on completion of their remand and sought a 12-day extension of their physical remand for completion of investigation.

The IO stated that he needed the custody of the suspects to present them before a judicial magistrate for recording the statements of two servants of Armaghan under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in the suspects’ presence, which was scheduled later today (Thursday).

He said that suspect Armaghan alias Army was a habitual offender and very clever and was changing his statements. The suspect also pretended to be unconscious during interrogation, he added.

The IO said the girl who was allegedly beaten up by the suspect at his bungalow a day before Mustafa’s murder had been traced and added that her statement would be recorded with her samples to be taken for a DNA test. He said that a joint investigation team had also been constituted to investigate the case.

The parents of Armaghan appeared in the court along with their lawyers Abid Zaman and Tahirrur Rehman to represent their son in the case. The judge said that he could not allow two lawyers to file their separate Vakalatnama, as in this way one counsel would be superseded by the other. He asked the counsel to let Armaghan decide whom he wanted to engage.

The suspect signed Abid Zaman’s Vakalatnama in the courtroom. Advocate Abid Zaman opposed the police’s plea for extension of the suspects’ remand and submitted an application seeking to provide medical treatment to his client. He contended that the suspect had already been in police custody for ten days and requested the judge to direct the IO to submit the case diary to know what investigation had been carried out in these days. He further pleaded with the judge to direct the police to place on record data of a call made by Aramghan on 15 police helpline during a police raid at his residence.

During the hearing, Armaghan complained to the court that he was being subjected to inhumane treatment, denied food, and not allowed access to a washroom for ten days. The judge, however, dismissed the claims as unrealistic. “A person cannot even stand if they aren’t allowed to go to the washroom for 10 days,” he remarked.

Zaman and Sheraz’s lawyer Khurram Abbas requested the court to allow their clients to meet them and their families.

The judge allowed the counsel and family members, including Armaghan’s parents and Sheraz’s sister, to meet the suspects in the courtroom in the presence of the court staff and the IO.

“Since the accused are required for further investigation in matters, therefore further five (05) days police custody remand w.e.f 27.02.2025 to 03.03.2025 is granted for further investigation,” he ruled, and directed the IO to produce them on expiry of their remand along with a report. The judge ordered the IO to produce Armaghan before a government-run hospital for necessary medical check-up and treatment.