Prosecutor general asks IGP to act against officials who ‘damaged’ Mustafa Amir murder case

KARACHI: Expressing concerns over the handling of Mustafa Amir kidnap and murder case, the Sindh prosecutor general has asked the provincial police chief to take strict action against the Anti-Violent Crime Crime's (AVCC) investigation team for "damaging" the prosecution's case.

In a letter to the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP), the prosecutor general's office questioned the AVCC's decision to present prime suspect Armaghan and his accomplice Shiraz before a judicial magistrate to record their confessional statement without consulting or seeking its legal advice.

On Saturday, Armaghan was produced before a South judicial magistrate to record his confessional statement under the Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The suspect first confessed to his crime but later retracted, prompting the magistrate to reject the investigation officer's application.

Earlier on March 3, the magistrate had similarly rejected an application to record the confessional statement of Shiraz after he alleged that he was under duress and had been offered a lesser punishment in exchange for his confession.

In the letter, the prosecutor general's office said the brutal murder of youth Mustafa Amir was a very high-profile case but the police had completely failed to comply with the guidelines and legal assistance issued by it through special prosecutor Zulfiqar Ali Arain.

"Surprisingly the investigation team of the AVCC/CIA damaged the prosecution's case during investigation," read the letter. It said the police did not take the prosecution into confidence or sought its legal opinion before filing the applications.

"The police deliberately filed the application for confession of the accused Syed Shiraz before the learned Judicial Magistrate-V, Karachi South, which was declined on 03-03-2025 and same act was repeated on 22-03-2025 [when] the accused Armaghan [was] brought before the magistrate through investigation team for confessional statement and he declined to confess his guilt as per court order," the letter added.

It noted that the confessional statement of Armaghan had already been recorded before the AVCC SSP under the Section 21(H) of Anti-Terrorism Act, which was admissible under the law. The prosecutor general requested the IGP to take strict legal action against the police officials who were behind the decision to file the applications and thereby, damaged the prosecution case with "ill-motive/aim".