Qandeel Baloch murder investigation assigned to woman officer

Islamabad: A female Pakistani police officer has been assigned to probe the murder of model Qandeel Baloch, officials said on Wednesday. Qandeel, a social media celebrity, was strangled to death on 16 July, allegedly by her brother in the name of family honour, in Multan, Punjab province, Dawn online reported. [caption id=“attachment_2897622” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Qandeel Baloch. Image taken from Facebook[/caption] Central Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Akram deployed woman Inspector Attiya Jaffari following the suspension of two former investigating officers for showing negligence in the probe. Meanwhile, Qandeel’s alleged killer, her younger brother Waseem, was sent on a 14-day judicial remand on Tuesday. The police could not take him to a forensic lab in Lahore for DNA and polygraph tests to complete the investigation. The police later filed an appeal in the court to get physical remand of Waseem, which would be decided later on Wednesday, Dawn online noted. According to a police official, the course of investigation requires DNA and polygraph tests to verify, establish and evaluate the truthfulness of statements of a suspect. CPO Akram said the new woman Investigation Officer had issued notices to various persons, including Mufti Abdul Qavi and the slain model’s former husband Ashiq Hussain, in the light of the statement of Qandeel’s mother. The police had obtained Qandeel’s mobile phone data and detained her brother. “We are preparing the case in a way that its trial is concluded within three months,” Akram said, adding that a letter had been dispatched to the Karachi corps commander for recording the statement of Aslam Shaheen, the elder brother of Qandeel, who is serving in the army. The CPO disclosed that suspect Waseem had made calls to some people soon after the murder. Meanwhile, talking to Dawn, Qandeel’s father Mohammad Azam and mother Anwar Bibi said the name of Aslam Shaheen was included in the FIR by them mistakenly and they would request the court to exclude his name from the case.