Overspeeding car crashed into Mufti Abdul Shakoor's vehicle, police report says

• The car that crashed into MNA's vehicle was going 50 kilometres per hour over speed limit.
• FIR registered over accident on Haji Qudratullah's complaint at Secretariat police station.
• The late minister was buried in his hometown Tajbi Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

ISLAMABAD: An initial inquiry report by Islamabad police into Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor's death in a car accident in the capital yesterday revealed that the vehicle that crashed into the JUI-F leader's car was going over the speed limit.

A statement issued by police last night said the minister was driving the car himself when a Toyota Hilux Revo — with five people onboard — smashed his vehicle at the driver's side.

The federal minister was shifted to Polyclinic Hospital in the federal capital, but due to severe internal bleeding, he succumbed to his wounds, the police said.

Sources told Geo News today that the car that crashed into Mufti Shakoor's vehicle was part of an entourage of a person associated with poultry business. At the time of the accident, the car's speed was 110 kilometres per hour while the late minister was driving at 30 kilometres per hour.

According to the Motor Vehicle Examiner's report, the speed limit on Shahrah-e-Dastoor, where the accident occurred, was 60 kilometres per hour.

There was no technical fault in the car that hit the minister's vehicle, the report stated, adding that as a result of the accident, the wheel and axle of Mufti Shakoor's car broke apart.

Meanwhile, the minister was buried in his hometown Tajbi Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His funeral prayers were attended by a number of officials and lawmakers, including MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Mohammad Khan Sherani.

FIR registered

Separately, a first information report (FIR) was registered over the accident on the complaint of Haji Qudratullah at the Secretariat police station, which stated that Mufti Shakoor had left the complainant's house at 8:22am for Parliament Lodges.

"My cook was informed of the accident by the driver at 10pm. Mufti Shakoor's car was hit due to overspeeding and carelessness," the complainant stated.

Later in the day, a district and sessions court in Islamabad granted police two-day physical remand of the person who was driving the car that crashed into Mufti Shakoor's vehicle.

The driver, Rao Gul Khan, was presented in front of Duty Magistrate Malik Aman. The investigation officer requested the court to grant seven-day physical remand.

He informed the court that five people were sitting in the car that hit the late minister's vehicle, adding that the driver was arrested at the scene, two others were seriously injured and under treatment at the Polyclinic Hospital while two others were at large.

The investigation officer informed the court that police needed to conduct a drug test of the driver and arrest the remaining suspects to complete the investigation.

Subsequently, the duty magistrate granted police two-day physical remand. 

The religious scholar was elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-51 on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in the 2018 general elections.

President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have offered their condolences on the minister's death.

PM Shehbaz said the deceased federal minister was among Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl's ideological leaders.

"Mufti Abdul Shakoor performed his duties with diligence, sincerity and honesty as Minister of Religious Affairs," the premier said.