ATC remands prime suspect in Mustafa murder case into police custody

• Mustafa summoned Shiraz at Armughan's house on Jan 6: report.
• Victim beaten with sticks, taken to Balochistan and burnt.
• Three-member medical board formed for exhumation on Feb 21.

KARACHI: In a major development in the high-profile murder case of Karachi youngster Mustafa Amir, the police have finally acquired the physical remand of the prime suspect, Armughan, after much struggle. 

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) remanded the youth, suspected of murdering Mustafa and disposing off his body, into police custody for four days.

The development comes shortly after the Sindh High Court (SHC) directed the police to produce Armughan, ATC No II to secure his remand, following the denial of remand by ATC No I. 

The police had approached the high court after facing challenges in acquiring the prime suspect’s remand for interrogation from the trial court. The SHC approved all four applications concerning Armughan's remand on charges of illegally possessing weapons, kidnapping, murder and other offences while setting aside the ATC's previous orders denying custody, and referred the police to ATC No II.

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.

Following the court's order issued on Monday, a three-member medical board has been formed to exhume the deceased's body on February 21 at 9am.

The medical board, led by Police Surgeon Dr Summaya Syed, also includes Additional Police Surgeon Dr Srichand and MLO Dr Kamran.

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.

'Beaten with sticks'

Meanwhile, the interrogation report obtained by Geo News has revealed that Shiraz and Armughan were childhood friends, studied together in school and reconnected around a year ago.

The report says that Armughan lived alone in the bungalow and operated a call centre with 30 to 35 employees.

The report says that Armughan lived alone in the bungalow and operated a call centre with 30 to 35 employees.

The suspect, as per Shiraz, was fond of weapons and had organised a party on New Year's Eve, which was not attended by Mustafa — who was a friend of both Armughan and him.

On January 6 — the day Mustafa went missing — the victim summoned Shiraz at Armughan's residence. However, the meeting apparently turned sour with Armughan started beating Mustafa with sticks and firing two bullets at the wall.

Mustafa, the report adds, started bleeding when hit on his hand and knees.

The victim, after being threatened, was then taken to Balochistan in his car and burned along with the vehicle.

However, the report states that according to Shiraz he wasn't aware of who was behind the ransom call made to Mustafa's mother.