KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the police to produce Armughan, prime suspect in the Mustafa Amir murder case, before Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) No 2 to secure his remand.
The development came after the court approved all four applications concerning Armughan’s remand for alleged possession of illegal weapons, kidnapping, murder and other offences.
The police had approached the Sindh High Court seeking the physical remand of the prime suspect, which was previously denied by ATC No 1.
Now the police will present the suspect in ATC 2 shortly.
The case relates to alleged kidnapping and murder of a BBA student, Mustafa, who had gone missing on January 6.
The case came to light after the prime suspect, Armughan, opened fire at a team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) — a specialised unit of the Karachi police responsible for tackling cases related to murder and extortion — during a raid at his residence in Karachi’s DHA earlier this month.
The police arrested the prime suspect, however, Mustafa’s whereabouts couldn’t be traced until last week when the authorities revealed that charred mortal remains — presumably his — had been found in a car near the Hub checkpost days after the youngster’s disappearance.
The victim’s body was then buried by the Edhi Foundation, whereas the court has allowed its exhumation for identification and forensics and has directed the Sindh Secretary Health to constitute a medical board for the exhumation and submit a report within seven days.
Other than Armughan, the police have also arrested and recorded Shiraz Bukhari alias Shavez’s statement in the case, with investigation officials saying that he worked for Armughan and was involved in allegedly planning both the murder and the disposal of the body.
During the hearing today, the government’s lawyer apprised the court that the suspect was presented before the ATC No 1 on February 10 with the police seeking his physical remand in three cases.
Noting that the ATC was duly informed that Armughan had opened fire on police injuring two personnel, the counsel lamented that the request for his one-month remand was turned down.
The suspect, he added, was absconding after being named in an extortion case registered at the Boat Basin Police Station.
When asked about the reason behind the trial court’s refusal to grant his remand, the lawyer said that no reason was given by the court.
Remarking that the suspect was not remanded due to torture, the SHC inquired whether Arghuman had been subjected to torture.
At this, the suspect claimed that he was in fact tortured. However, no such signs were found on his body when the court directed him to lift his shirt for the court’s inspection.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
