Multan CPO says no clean chit given to Mufti Abdul Qavi

MULTAN: City Police Officer Azhar Akram has said that two persons are directly involved in the murder of Qandeel Baloch while one accused facilitated the murder. He, however, denied giving clean chit to cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi and said his name had been added under Section 109 of the PPC in the case.

Addressing a press conference at the Police Headquarters here on Saturday, CPO Azhar Akram said that Mufti Abdul Qavi would be arrested and interrogated after collection of sufficient evidences. He said that complainant Muhammad Azim had nominated Mufti Abdul Qavi and he would be questioned at any stage.

Qandeel Baloch in her press conference on June 28 had leveled charges on the cleric, he said. CPO Azhar Akram claimed that accused Muhammad Wasim and Haq Nawaz allegedly strangled Qandeel Baloch and accused taxi driver Abdul Basit provided his taxi for boarding and lodging to the accused. He said that the case was technically crystal clear and the accused would be convicted. Responding to a query, he said that the absence of eyewitness would not affect the case trial and police had collected sufficient evidences, which were enough to convict the accused persons. He said that the case complainant and the father of slain had nominated Mufti Abdul Qavi and he would be interrogated after receiving sufficient evidences. The police were waiting for polygraph test, DNA and some forensic reports results to submit challans, he added. He said that extraordinary security measures had been taken in connection with the Independence Day and joint teams of police and army had been constituted. Check posts had been established at three points at Sher Shah, Head Muhammadwala and Qadirpur Rawan at entry and exit points and no vehicle would be allowed to enter without scanning, he informed. Each vehicle would be properly checked through bio-metric system, he maintained. Briefing the journalists on children kidnapping incidents, he rejected such rumors and said that no child abduction case had been reported in Multan yet due to safe security measures. Two types of missing children cases had been reported, which include the children run away after receiving parents beating them and the category of missing children due to family disputes, he continued. The police had recovered majority of children in both categories, he added. As many as 40 children were missing, including 18 boys and 22 girls, and 35 of them had been recovered, he claimed. Majority of the missing children cases belong to domestic feud between mother and father, he clarified. He said that some fictitious pictures were being displayed on social media and the FIA was taking action under the new Cyber Law against those posted wrong pictures on social media and defamed the country image. Actually all such pictures were taken from other countries but wrongly portrayed to Pakistan, he claimed. CPO Azhar Akram appealed to the media to avoid from spreading panic and running rumors based stories, which were playing vital role in terrorizing masses at all levels. He said that police reserves had been provided to all circles and they were monitoring and patrolling every nook and corner in the district. The CPO appealed to the political representatives, clerics, traders and the people from different walks of life for playing their individual role in sensitisation of the masses on safety and security issues.