The primary suspect in the murder case of Abbottabad’s Dr Warda Mushtaq was killed in a police encounter, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police said.

 

 

According to the police, Shamrez was killed during a raid that came as he continued to evade arrest since the murder. Other suspects are already in police custody.

 

 

Per the details of the shootout, the suspect fired upon police when they approached him. He was shot dead as a result of retaliatory fire.

 

 

While his remains were taken to Ayub Medical Complex and access for media was limited, Abbottabad District Police Officer (DPO) Haroon Rasheed has revealed further details of the case.

 

 

He said that Dr Warda had entrusted 67 tolas of gold to her friend Rida for safekeeping two years ago. A conflict arose when Dr Warda sought the return of the gold, leading to her abduction and eventual murder.

 

 

“Dr Warda was killed on the same day she was abducted. The postmortem examination revealed that her neck bone was fractured, with strangulation and suffocation listed as the causes of death. Her body also exhibited clear signs of torture,” Rasheed said.

 

 

The police had earlier arrested Wahid, the spouse of one of the female suspects, and applied sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act against those in custody.

 

 

Dr Warda, who worked as a medical officer at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Abbottabad, went missing before her body was discovered on the night of December 4, based on information from her friend and accomplices.

 

Her father had filed a report at the Cantonment police station following her disappearance.

 

 

Investigators determined that on December 4, Rida contacted Dr Warda at the DHQ hospital and lured her to an under-construction house near Jadoon Plaza on Rehman Street. 

 

 

Law enforcement analysed CCTV footage, call logs and interviewed over 35 individuals, which resulted in the arrests of Rida, Nadeem Zaib s/o Aurangzeb, and Pervez s/o Ayub. 

 

 

During questioning, the suspects confessed to kidnapping and murdering Dr Warda besides burying her body in a pit in the Lari Banota forest. Pervez later directed investigators to the body.