We stand with Noor Mukadam's family, not our son: Zahir Jaffer's father

• Local court holds hearing on post-arrest bail petition of Zahir Jaffer's parents.
• Public prosecutor tells court that suspect was in contact with his mother, but she did not tell police about it.
• Telephonic contact between a mother and her son is not a crime, says Jaffer's lawyer. 

ISLAMABAD: A local court on Wednesday held its hearing on the post-arrest bail petition of the parents of Zahir Jaffer, the main suspect in the murder of former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam's daughter Noor Mukadam.

During the course of the hearing, Zakir Jaffer, the suspect’s father, said, “We are not with our son, we stand with the victim’s family.”

Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adam’s counsel, Rizwan Abbasi, appraised the court that his clients were included in the case on the basis of the suspect’s statement before an investigation officer.

His clients were unaware of the incident, he said, adding that neither did they hide or provide wrong information to the authorities.

Meanwhile, the public prosecutor told the court that the suspect was in contact with his mother but she did not tell the police about it.

Abbasi then replied that telephonic contact between a son and mother is not a crime. The public prosecutor said that the pistol recovered from the suspect was issued under the name of Zakir Jaffer.

He maintained that the suspect had made telephone calls to his father and mother at around 3 pm on July 20. It was the time when Noor Mukadam was with Zahir Jaffer, the lawyer said, adding that later she had been killed.

Earlier, on July 27, a sessions court in Islamabad had sent to jail the parents of Zahir Jaffer and two other suspects on a 14-day judicial remand for their alleged involvement in the murder of Noor.

The suspects had been presented before Judicial Magistrate Shoaib Akhtar’s court that day.

At the outset of the hearing, the police had requested the judge for a 14-day judicial remand of the suspects. After hearing the request, the judge had asked the plaintiffs whether they would like to present their arguments in the case.

The lawyers responded by saying that they will not present their arguments if the judge will send the suspects to jail on remand.

The court, on hearing this, had approved the remand and the suspects — Zakir Jaffer, Asmat Adamjee, Iftikhar and Jameel — were ordered to be sent to Adiala Jail.