A Rawalpindi court on Tuesday extended the physical remand of Ahsan Tahir, the husband of television anchorperson and journalist Rabia Ahsan, by four days. Senior Civil Judge Muhammad Nasrullah Wattoo approved the extension after the investigating officer requested 10 days of further remand for interrogation. The court directed the police to complete the investigation and produce the suspect before the court again on Nov 14.
The court also ordered the investigating officer to submit a complete investigation report and the post-mortem report at the next hearing. No lawyer appeared for the suspect during the proceedings. Following the hearing, police took Ahsan back to the police station.
The investigation concerns the murder of 41-year-old Rabia Ahsan, who was associated with 92 News. She was found shot dead at her home in the Gulshanabad area of Rawalpindi on Sunday, Nov 8. According to the first information report (FIR) registered at Saddar Beruni police station on the complaint of her brother, Khurram Ahmed, Rabia's mother and sister were in the lawn at around 2:30pm when they heard a gunshot from the bedroom. Her sister rushed inside and found Rabia lying on the floor in a pool of blood, while Ahsan was holding a pistol.
The FIR states that Ahsan told police he had fired at his wife with the same weapon. Police said he failed to produce a license or permit for the pistol. The case was registered under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 13(2)(a) of the Punjab Arms Amendment Ordinance.
Police sources identified the suspect as a grade-18 officer at the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation. Rabia, who also ran a private salon in Islamabad, had presented her last programme on a mainstream television channel on Saturday night. A team from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency collected evidence from the crime scene, and her body was moved to a hospital for a post-mortem examination.
During Tuesday's hearing, the investigating officer informed the court of the progress made and urged for a seven-day extension. The court observed that Ahsan had been nominated in the FIR and that a pistol had been recovered from him.
Police have decided to conduct a polygraph test on the suspect due to alleged inconsistencies in his statements. According to the application for physical remand, the test was scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 11, at the Punjab Forensic Science Agency in Lahore. Investigators expect the report by Saturday, which they said may help establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
While there were reports that the complainant decided to withdraw the murder case, a senior officer told Dawn that it is now up to the trial court to decide whether to accept a request to withdraw the case, if such a request is filed.
