Ayaz Amir remanded in daughter-in-law's murder case

[MenInG]

An Islamabad court on Sunday granted one day’s physical remand of senior journalist Ayaz Amir who was arrested after his daughter-in-law was found murdered in her home on Friday.

The 37-year-old victim identified as Sara Bibi is suspected of having been murdered by her husband Shahnawaz – Ayaz Amir’s son.

According to sources, Sara and Shahnawaz had an altercation over a domestic issue on Thursday night which led to her death as the accused allegedly had hit her in the head with an iron dumbbell.

After killing his wife, sources revealed, the accused allegedly put her body in a bathtub. The police had arrested the accused and taken him to Shahzad Town Police Station for further investigation.

Sources furthered that Shahzad Town Police had later named Ayaz Amir in the case. They had said that in the light of the interrogation of Shahnawaz, the police had obtained the arrest warrant of Ayaz Amir from the area magistrate on Saturday.

As the senior journalist was produced before the area magistrate Zahid Termizi today, he pleaded that he was the one who had informed the police of the murder.

“I was the one who gave the farmhouse address to the station house officer (SHO),” Amir added.

His counsel, Nasir Asghar also added that Amir was “not named in the case” and that “no evidence had been found against” his client.

However, the police requested the court for a four-day physical remand of the accused arguing that “the accused Ayaz Amir should be investigated”.

“It is a very high-profile case,” the police added, “a Canadian-born Pakistani woman has been murdered”.

Granting the police the request the court ordered one day’s physical remand and handed the accused over to the officials.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2378543/ayaz-amir-remanded-in-daughter-in-laws-murder-case

 

[IAJ]

Inna lillahi wa inna iliaihi rajioon. Very sad to hear about the murder, must have been very brutal with dumbbells

But strange to see Ayaz Mir get involved in her, could it be politics since he is close to IK?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Inna lillahi wa inna iliaihi rajioon. Very sad to hear about the murder, must have been very brutal with dumbbells

But strange to see Ayaz Mir get involved in her, could it be politics since he is close to IK?

Can't see any other reason as he was quite a prominent journalist at one time, and since it was the son who seems to have carried out the crime, not sure what Ayaz Amir's involvement can have been. The supposed reason given that he "should be investigated" seems pretty vague.

 

[Bewal Express]

It's interesting that the son commits a heinous crime but the father gets arrested because he speaks against the imported crooks.

 

[Vatta]

In the great land of the noble PDM, it can be night or day, summer or winter - at any time.

As the chief flea wishes, so it is.

 

[daytrader]

Sara Inam murder case: Accused Shahnawaz tried tampering with evidence, per police

• Police say accused broke one of his own as well as his wife's phone with dumbbells to erase data.
• A total of six mobile phones were recovered from the crime scene, per police.
• Police say accused also cut Canadian passport of victim with scissors, per sources.

ISLAMABAD: Some new developments took place in the Sara Inam murder case on Sunday as the police revealed that the accused, Shahnawaz Amir — the son of senior journalist Ayaz Amir — tried tampering with the evidence.

Following the end of their remand, the father-son duo will be presented in court again on September 26 (tomorrow).

The police said they recovered six mobile phones from the crime scene, out of which five of them belonged to Shahnawaz, while one of them was registered in the victim's name.

Police added that the accused had broken one of his own as well as his wife's phone with the dumbbells — the murder weapon — to erase the data.

"The accused tried to conceal evidence in the case by breaking the mobile phones that he used to contact the victim," police sources told Geo.tv.

All recovered phones have been sent for forensic analysis, the police said, per sources, adding that they will find out the reason behind the dispute between the couple by covering the data from the mobile phones.

According to sources, the accused also cut the Canadian passport of the victim with scissors to make it invalid. Pieces of her passport, as well as the scissors, have been recovered from the site of the murder, the police said.

The car bought for Sara has been seized and transferred to the police station, police sources said.

The case
The accused Shahnawaz was detained by the police on Friday, September 23, for being a suspect in his wife's murder. He confessed to committing the crime and said that he "thought" his spouse was having an affair with someone else.

Sara was murdered in the Chak Shahzad area of ​​the federal capital on Friday and according to the spokesperson of the Islamabad Police, Shahnawaz allegedly killed her at home.

During the preliminary investigation of the case, the suspect told the police that he had tied the knot with the victim three months ago and that she was his third wife. They had met on social media.

"I thought she had an affair with someone else but she has assured me that she was not seeing anyone," Shahnawaz told the police, per sources.

According to sources, he further told the police that he suspected the deceased was "some other country's agent" and that he "felt that she was plotting to kill him."

During interrogation, the suspect said that Sara had tried to strangle him after which he pushed her away from him.

"Sara tried strangling me at about 9:30am. I thought I would die so I pushed her away and she fell," he told the police, per sources. "She got up and attacked me again, so I grabbed my dumbbells which were lying nearby and hit her on the head."

The suspect further maintained that after he hit his wife, the room was filled with blood which sent him into a state of panic.

"I, therefore, placed Sara's body in a bathtub to clean the blood stains," he said, according to the sources, adding that he took a picture of the bathtub and sent it to his father, Ayaz Amir.

First information report
Police registered a first information report (FIR) on the complaint of Station House Officer (SHO) Nawazish Ali Khan on Friday under Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

The FIR states that the suspect's mother, Samina Shah, called the police on Friday to inform them that her son, Shahnawaz, had killed his wife with a dumbbell.

According to the FIR, Shah told the police that her son was in the house and had hidden the body of his wife. Following this, the police raided the house.

In the complaint, the police said that Shahnawaz had locked himself inside his room and when the personnel broke inside, there were blood spots on his hands and clothes.

Once the police got hold of Shahnawaz, he, according to the FIR, confessed to hitting his wife repeatedly with a dumbbell during an argument and then later hiding the Canadian national's body in the bathtub.

The "murder weapon", the FIR quoted Shahnawaz as saying, was hidden under his bed. Police, after examining the dumbbell, reportedly found blood and hair on it. They later sent it for forensics.

Ayaz Amir arrested
A day earlier, police took into custody senior journalist Ayaz Amir after obtaining arrest warrants for him and his former wife in the murder case.

Amir was taken to Shahzad Town police station where an additional clause Section 109 (punishment for abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code was added at the request of Sara's uncles — Colonel (retd) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim — who blamed Amir and his former wife for their niece's murder.

After his arrest, police produced Ayaz in court to acquire his physical remand. The investigation officer of the case pleaded with the court to approve his five-day physical remand.

During the hearing, Ayaz said that he had informed the police himself about the murder, however, he has no intention to save Shahnawaz from punishment in a murder case.

“If I had an intention to save my son, it would not have been difficult to hide a dumbbell,” he said.

“I asked Sara once whether she know about Shahnawaz’s former marriages and his habit of intoxication, on which she replied that Shahnawaz is good at heart. I have sympathy with Sara and her family,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ayaz’s counsel said that he can’t be arrested just for being a high-profile journalist as police have no evidence against him.

After listening to the arguments from both sides, the court approved a one-day physical remand of Ayaz and handed him over to the police.

Geo Tv

 

[IAJ]

The problem regarding intoxication seems to be big among the rich elite of big cities in Pakistan?

 

[MenInG]

Senior journalist Ayaz Amir’s wife Samina Shah on Monday filed an application with the Islamabad District and Sessions Court requesting pre-arrest bail in connection with the murder of her daughter-in-law.

The 37-year-old victim identified as Sara Bibi is suspected of having been murdered by her husband Shahnawaz – Ayaz Amir and Samina Shah’s son.

According to sources, Sara and Shahnawaz had an altercation over a domestic issue on Thursday night which led to her death as the accused allegedly had hit her in the head with an iron dumbbell.

After killing his wife, sources revealed, the accused allegedly put her body in a bathtub. The police had arrested the accused and taken him to Shahzad Town Police Station for further investigation.

Sources furthered that Shahzad Town Police had later named Ayaz Amir in the case. They had said that in the light of the interrogation of Shahnawaz, the police had obtained the arrest warrant of Ayaz Amir from the area magistrate on Saturday.

An Islamabad court on Sunday granted one day’s physical remand of senior journalist Ayaz Amir.

Read How many more hashtags: Mahira Khan, Frieha Altaf among others condemn Sara Bibi's brutal murder

Samina Shah in her bail application filed by her counsel Barrister Hasnat Gul today stated that Sara’s uncle and aunt had nominated her name.

The application further adds that Samina has been a resident of the farmhouse for many years where the crime was committed.

“The main accused, Shahnawaz, sent me a message in WhatsApp asking for the victim’s departure before the murder,” the bail application read.

“Later, Shahnawaz Amir informed about the incident by phone at 9:12am after the murder had already been committed,” Samina claimed.

“Shahnawaz was asked to sit in the room,” the application added, “by then his father, Ayaz Amir had already called the police. After that, the Islamabad police arrived at the scene within a few minutes.”

The application pleaded that Samina Shah had “nothing to do with the incident” and nor was she an eye-witness to the crime. It also added that the accused suffers from health problems and requested pre-arrest bail to be approved.

Express Tribune

 

[sweep_shot]

Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

Tragic incident.

 

[MenInG]

The parents of Sara Inam — who had allegedly been killed by her husband Shahnawaz Amir, the son of senior journalist Ayaz Amir — have arrived in Pakistan from Canada.


According to police sources, the father of the victim Engineer Inam-ur-Rehman and his wife reached Islamabad to claim the body of their daughter and perform her last rites. Sara’s funeral prayers will be performed on September 28 after Zuhr in Shehzad Town, Islamabad.

Earlier on Monday, a local court in the federal capital extended the physical remand of senior journalist Ayaz Amir, who had been arrested a day prior, and Shahnawaz for one and three days, respectively, in the murder case of Sara, who was a Canadian national.

Shahnawaz allegedly killed his wife Sara at home after a row over a “family issue” on September 23. Shahnawaz — who was detained by the police from a farmhouse in Islamabad’s Chak Shahzad area for being a suspect in his wife’s murder — confessed to committing the crime and said that he “thought” his spouse was having an affair with someone else. The couple was married for just three months. In the police report registered following the murder, an additional clause of Section 109 (punishment for abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code was added at the request of Sara’s uncles — Colonel (R) Ikram and Zia-ur-Rahim — who have blamed Amir and his former wife for their niece’s murder.

Meanwhile, an additional sessions court judge accepted the pre-arrest bail plea of Shahnawaz’s mother Sameena Shah against a surety of Rs50,000 and directed her to join the probe within three days.

The court remarked that there is no allegation against Sameena as per the FIR. Amir’s ex-wife Sameena Shah approached the court for bail to avoid arrest in the murder case earlier in the day.

Filing for bail, Sameena maintained that Shahnawaz messaged her on WhatsApp about a rukhsati. She further stated that her son called her at 9:12am to tell her about the murder. “I rushed towards the room, but Sara had been murdered by then. I told Shahnawaz to stay in the room while Amir informed the police,” Sameena stated in the plea.

She said that the Islamabad Police reached the crime scene within minutes of being informed. Sameena requested the court to accept her pre-arrest bail plea, claiming that neither is she linked to the murder in any way nor is she an eyewitness of the crime. She also cited health issues while seeking bail.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/995038-sara-inam-s-parents-arrive-from-canada-for-funeral

 

[MenInG]

A court in Islamabad on Tuesday ordered to release of senior journalist Ayaz Amir who was taken in to custody after his son allegedly killed his wife Sara.

The case was heard at a district and sessions court in the federal capital and the journalist was presented during the hearing. Police had requested another five-day remand of the journalist.

 

[MenInG]

The bail of Samina Shah, mother of the prime suspect in the Sara Inam murder case, was extended till October 3 by a court on Saturday.

District and Sessions Court Judge Sheikh Sohail heard the bail application, where the investigating officer produced the case record before the court.

The primary suspect Shahnawaz’s mother appeared before the court with her lawyer.

The court asked the petitioner's lawyer if Samina was unaware of the presence of the victim in the farmhouse where the incident occurred. They asked why Samina did not inform the police directly about it.

The court further maintained that the petitioner had been living at the farmhouse for 40 years and was also familiar with the girl.

It questioned why had the phone call between Samina and her former spouse, the suspect's father, senior journalist Ayaz Amir, not been mentioned.

Samina's lawyer claimed that the police was “timely" informed of the incident from her side, adding that the main suspect had called his father first and then Samina.

“This is a 40 canal farmhouse; when the petitioner walked over to the place of incident, the girl had already died,” the lawyer stated.

The lawyer further said that in a message Shahnawaz had asked Samina to talk to Sara's family about the rukhsati.

Read Court releases senior journalist Ayaz Amir in Sara murder case

After that, Samina allegedly fell asleep, and does not know what happened again at night, the counsel said.

“Her role was only that she ensured the accused remained in a room till she called the police over, and the police reached the spot and arrested the accused,” the lawyer asserted.

The court adjourned further hearing of the case till October 3.

In her bail petition, Samina had pleaded that she had “nothing to do with the incident” and nor was she an eye-witness to the crime. It also added that the accused suffers from health problems and requested pre-arrest bail to be approved.

The murder

The 37-year-old victim, identified as Sara Bibi, is suspected of having been murdered by her husband Shahnawaz – Ayaz Amir and Samina Shah’s son.

According to sources, Sara and Shahnawaz had an altercation over a domestic issue that resulted in the accused allegedly hitting her on the head with an iron dumbbell.

After killing his wife, sources revealed, the accused allegedly put her body in a bathtub. The police arrested the accused and took him to Shahzad Town Police Station for further investigation.

Sources furthered that the police later nominated Ayaz Amir in the case as well. They had said that in the light of the interrogation of Shahnawaz, the police had obtained the arrest warrant of Ayaz Amir from the area magistrate.

Express Tribune

 

[MenInG]

A local court in Islamabad on Monday extended the physical remand of Shahnawaz Amir — the main suspect in the Sarah Inam murder case — for another three days.

Shahnawaz was arrested on Sep 23 for allegedly killing his Canadian national wife. The incident took place at a farmhouse located in Shahzad Town where the suspect lived along with his mother, Sameena Shah.

During today’s hearing, police presented the main suspect in the court of Civil Judge Muhammad Amir Aziz, seeking a three-day extension in Shahnawaz’s physical remand.

The investigation officer informed the court that Sarah’s passport had still not been recovered, terming it to be a “crucial” part of the investigation. He went on to say that Sarah’s passport would provide a clean picture of her travel history.