Court orders IO to file charge sheet in Zafir Zuberi murder case

A local court adjourned a hearing in the case of Zafir Zuberi, the teenager who was shot dead in December in a road rage incident, till January 11 because of the absence of the investigation officer (IO).

The three accused, Khawar Burney, Abdul Rehman and Junaid Shah, are in police custody and were brought to the court of the judicial magistrate (south) on Monday, but the IO failed to appear and submit the charge sheet in this case.

Yet again the court ordered the officer to appear in court and present a charge sheet at the next hearing. The key accused, Khawar Burney and co-accused Abdul Rehman have already recorded their confessional statement.

Rehman said under oath that Burney chased the car the deceased was in and shot its occupants, leaving Zuberi critically injured. Burney on the other hand has claimed that he fired accidently and the bullets hit Zuberi.

Zafir, an 18-year-old college student, was speeding along Sea View Road at Do Darya with his friends in a Mercedes on December 3, when they ran over a motorcyclist Abdul Raheem, according to police. The motorcyclist’s companions had called for the Mercedes to stop but the boys sped away, prompting a chase. The chasers, who were in a Vigo, opened fire at the car, killing Zafir and injuring his friend.

Police said that they managed to track down the shooter with the help of CCTV footage within eight hours. The Vigo’s rear windshield had the word “Burney” on it. Following the vehicle through footage of various CCTV cameras across the city, police found it parked at a house on Khalid Bin Waleed Road and the prime suspect Khawar Burney was arrested in a subsequent raid.  

Principal’s murder case

A local court hearing the murder case of a private school principal has directed the investigation officer (IO) to submit a charge sheet against the four accused detained in the case by January 15.

Expressing displeasure at the IO’s failure in presenting a charge sheet in the case of Ambreen Fatima, the school principal who was murdered by her husband last month, the court set January 15 as the next hearing and the last date for the IO to submit the charge sheet.

Four accused Ali Hassan, the deceased’s husband, Bilal, Balaaj and Sehrish are already in custody, while two co-accused Gul Nawaz and Danish are out on bail.

Sehrish, who is the second wife of key accused Hassan, was produced before the court of the judicial magistrate (East) on Monday as her attorney filed papers on her behalf and got permission to plead the case for her. She is alleged to have played a part in the murder of Hassan’s first wife Ambreen in collaboration with her brother Balaaj and others. At the previous hearing, the IO had told the court that the pistol used in Ambreen’s murder was found in the possession of Hassan, who has confessed to murdering her on December 10.

Hassan had earlier claimed to the police that they were driving around in the city when some muggers intercepted them in Soldier Bazaar and shot Ambreen dead when he made a slight movement to hand over valuables.

Police found holes in his story during investigation and when taken into custody he confessed to the murder and concocting the muggers story. He said he, along with Sehrish and her brother had hatched the plan to murder Ambreen.

On December 6, a local court had granted bail before arrest to two co-accused, Gul Nawaz and his son Danish, in a school principal’s murder case.

Nawaz and Danish had moved bail applications saying that they feared they could be arrested by the police in the December 9 murder case of Ambreen Fatima, the headmistress of a private school.

The two men requested the court of the additional district & sessions judge (East) to grant them bail before arrest. They were granted bail in the sum of Rs30,000 each and comments were summoned from the investigating officer and the state attorney.

The court also directed Nawaz and Danish to record their statements before the IO. The next hearing of the case has been fixed to be held on January 8.

Ambreen Fatima was shot dead in the wee hours of December 9 when she was returning home, located in the Soldier Bazaar locality, with her husband Ali Hassan from their relatives’ event.

FIR No 299/17 was registered at the Soldier Bazaar police station under Section 302, read with Section 34, of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Ambreen’s husband against unidentified suspects.