A police official probing the murder of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has been suspended for poor investigation and negligence, Multan City Police Officer Azhar Ikram.
Inspector Ilyas Haider was doing ground investigation into the murder case.
According to reports, Haider was found to be ‘soft’ on Mufti Abdul Qavi and was seen ‘favouring’ him.
Inspector Attiya Jafri will replace him. She is famous for conducting transparent investigations into murder, rape and acid attack cases.
Qandeel, a social media celebrity, was strangled to death on July 16, allegedly by her brother in the name of family honour, in Multan, Punjab, Dawn online reported.
Central Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Akram deployed woman Inspector Attiya Jaffari to handle the investigation, 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, as the police could not take him to a forensic lab in Lahore for DNA and polygraph tests to complete the investigation.
The police filed an appeal in the court to get physical remand of the main suspect, which will be ruled upon later on Wednesday, as noted by Dawn online.
CPO Akram said the new Investigation Officer had already issued notices to various persons, including Mufti Abdul Qavi and the slain model’s former husband Ashiq Hussain, in the light of Qandeel’s mother’s statement.
The police had obtained Qandeel’s mobile phone data and detained her brother.
“We are preparing the case in a way that its trial should be concluded within three months,” Akram said, adding that a letter had been dispatched to the Karachi corps commander to obtain a statement from Aslam Shaheen, Qandeel’s elder brother, 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 Aslam Shaheen’s name being included in the FIR was a mistake and they would request the court to exclude his name from the case.