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LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Prisons Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan said he had ordered jail authorities to stop any preferential treatment for Zahir Jaffer, the main accused in the Noor Mukadam murder case.
Speaking to a media outlet, the minister said Jaffer was being kept in solitary confinement in a high-security cell at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.
The order comes a day after Jaffer was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after complaining of a headache, leading to outrage among the public and social media over the special privileges given to him.
“I’ve ordered the jail superintendent that no VIP treatment should be given to Zahir or his family and he should not even be allowed to meet his father who is in another barrack at the same jail,” Chohan said in an interview. “They are not in jail to celebrate birthday parties.”
Chohan said hospital visits, clothing changes and other special treatment would no longer be granted to Jaffer or his family. “Zahir will have to eat jail food from now on.”
Adiala Jail Superintendent Arshad Warraich confirmed that the prison had received these orders from Chohan, adding: “No one is allowed to see Zahir as he is being kept in a tightly-guarded solitary confinement cell.”
There were reports that Jaffer was taken to PIMS hospital after facing a headache and was receiving home-cooked food in jail daily, and was noted for appearing before the district magistrate bathed and in a fresh set of clothes.
Jaffer was arrested on the day he murdered Mukadam last month and remain in police custody on physical remand until this August 9. He was sent on 14-day judicial remand to Adiala Jail and will be next presented before a judicial magistrate on August 16.
Jaffer’s parents — Zakir Jaffer and Asmat Adamjee — and two members of their household staff were also arrested by Islamabad police for hiding evidence and being complicit in the crime. The parents had moved separate bail petitions against their detention which were rejected by an Islamabad district and sessions court.
The judgment said police had added the charges of abetment, concealment, failure to share information, disappearing evidence and attempting to commit offenses punishable with imprisonment for life to the charges against Jaffer’s parents.
Mukadam, the daughter of a former diplomat, was found beheaded at a residence in Islamabad’s upscale area on July 20 in a case that has sparked public outrage and grabbed media attention.
