• IO told to interrogate friends of suspect and victim present at Armaghan’s house on New Year’s Eve
• Prosecutor calls for investigations into role of prime suspect’s father

KARACHI: The prosecution in the Mustafa Amir murder case has called for a thorough investigation into illicit weapons, communication devices, laptops, etc, found from prime suspect Armaghan Qureshi’s DHA home, saying the recovered items could be linked to terror financing, money laundering and drug trafficking.

In a letter to the investigating officer (IO) of the case, Muhammad Ali, Special Public Prosecutor Zulfiqar Ali Arain asked him to expand the scope of his investigations in other cases connected to the Mustafa murder case and advised him to interrogate friends of the suspect and victim who were present at Armaghan’s house on New Year’s Eve.

He issued preliminary guidelines to the IO and instructed him to submit a daily progress report.

The letter called for an investigation into the role of Armaghan’s father, Kamran Asghar Qureshi as the police had recovered illegal weapons, walkie-talkie sets, laptops, digital lockers, two identity cards on a person under different names and other items after an encounter at his residence in DHA on Feb 8.

The prosecutor highlighted that those alleged recoveries could be linked to terror financing, terrorism, money laundering, illegal businesses, drug trafficking, immoral activities, etc.

He also apprehended that there might be a link between the suspect and banned organisations.

The prosecutor advised the IO to collect documentary evidence regarding a ransom call received on Jan 25 by the family of deceased Mustafa Amir.

He suggested him to send all the recovered items to department concerned for a forensic analysis.

Prosecutor Arain advised the IO to take photographs of all relevant locations, including the crime scene, and obtain CCTV footage and establish a chain of events by using the collected evidence.

The IO was told to collect statements of prosecution witnesses and legal heirs of the deceased, while mentioning the motive behind the murder.

He also mentioned that the suspects’ friends, as well as the deceased’s friends who were present at Armaghan’s house six days before the incident i.e. on Dec 31, 2024 should also be interrogated.

The IO was also asked to check the bank records, mobile data, travel history and business details of all persons, including the suspects and deceased, connected with the investigations of the murder and connected cases.

The prosecutor advised him to coordinate with the head of DHA security, the owner of the DHA house from where Armaghan was arrested, and local intelligence officers from the Gizri and Darakhshan police stations to determine what actions regarding alleged unlawful activities committed in the rented residential facility.

Armaghan is currently on police remand. The IO is set to produce him before an anti-terrorism court on Tuesday (today) after expiration of his remand. His accomplice, Shiraz, was already sent to prison on judicial remand by the same court on the previous hearing.

Prior to his arrest in the Mustafa Amir murder case, Armaghan was booked in at least seven cases. However, four new cases were registered against him in 2025 including kidnapping for ransom, possession of illicit weapons and assault on police personnel.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2025