Forensic Evidence Develops Against Zahir Jaffer – Victim’s Blood Stains Found On His Shirt

Forensic Evidence Zahir Jaffer

In a statement on Tuesday, the Islamabad Police clarified that the shirt of the primary accused, Zahir Jaffer, was stained with the blood of the victim as forensic evidence at the time of his arrest in the Noor Mukadam murder case.

The clarification comes a day after the investigation officer (IO), during his cross-examination by Zahir’s lawyer, told an Islamabad court that the National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA) did not find Zahir’s fingerprints on the knife. It was the weapon of offense, recovered from the crime scene.

Image: File

He also told a court that there were no bloodstains on Zahir’s pants when he was arrested and did not get the photo collected from the digital video recorder (DVR) vetted through a photogrammetry test.

According to a statement issued by the police today, Islamabad IG Mohammad Ahsan Younas held a meeting to review the progress of the case “in context of yesterday’s proceedings and media reports”. He also asked senior officers to “explain the proceedings”.

Image: File

The statement said that some media reports had “misinterpreted” the proceedings and the IO’s responses to questions by the defense counsel. The police chief was told that during the IO’s cross-examination, the officer answered briefly as he had been told to answer either “yes” or “no”.

“The answers must corroborate with the facts of the case file. However, this whole proceeding got misinterpreted in some media reports,” the statement said.

In its statement, police also reproduced some questions that were posed to the investigation officer by the defense counsel and then provided some context to those answers.

Further findings:

As per the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) report, the pants were not stained but “the shirt of the accused was stained with the blood of the victim”.

Image: File

Moreover, no fingerprints were found on the knife recovered from the crime scene. Other forensic findings did point towards the involvement of the primary accused.

“The knife recovered from the crime scene was taken into custody, sealed by NFSA, and sent to PFSA for fingerprints which could not be developed by the latter. But the report confirmed [the] blood of Noor on the knife,” the statement said.

About the photogrammetry test for identifying the victim, police said that it was not conducted as it is used to identify the accused only “so that he could not negate his presence at the crime scene”.

The statement also highlighted five facts that had been confirmed by the reports from the PFSA, including the fact that Noor was raped before being killed.

“(She) made every possible attempt to save her life before being killed,” the police said, adding that Zahir’s DNA, i.e. his skin, had been found under her nails. The shirt worn by and recovered from Zahir was stained with Noor’s blood and her DNA was also found on his shirt.

Police also said that Noor was killed with the Swiss knife recovered from the crime scene as her blood had been found on the blade and handle. Noor was also attacked with a knuckleduster recovered from the crime scene, the statement added.

Read More: Noor Mukadam’s Father Demands Death Sentence For Zahir Jaffer In Court Testimony

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