KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Saturday declined to grant further physical remand of a suspect and sent him to prison in a case pertaining to the murder of a woman and her three children.
After the end of his first five-day physical remand, the investigating officer (IO) again brought suspect Masroor Hussain before the magistrate and sought an extension in his custody for further investigation.
The IO, Inspector Mohammad Mehmood, submitted that police have recovered a dagger, used in the crime, on a lead provided by the suspect, but he did not disclose the names and whereabouts of his accomplices.
The officer also maintained that it was a heinous crime and custody of the suspect was further required for questioning in order to unearth exact motive and other facts behind the quadruple murder.
After hearing the IO and perusing the record, the judicial magistrate (West) Inaamullah Phulpoto in his order noted that apart from the recovery of the crime weapon, no tangible progress or material development has been made to justify further police custody.
“It is a settled principle of law that police custody remand cannot be granted merely on the assertion that the accused is not disclosing information or that further interrogation is required. The IO is duty bound to demonstrate concrete progress and compelling reasons for extension of police custody, which, in the present case are lacking”, the magistrate added.
He also observed that he was not satisfied to grant further physical remand and, therefore, sent the suspect to jail on judicial remand with direction to the IO to submit investigation report under Section 173 of CrPC within stipulated time.
According to the prosecution, four partially decomposed bodies were found off Mai Kolachi Road on Jan 3. The deceased were identified as Anila, 35, her two sons — Husain Ali, 13, and Muhammad Zulqarnain, 12 — and her daughter, Kishwara Zehra, 14.
It said that police had arrested the suspect on the following day and asserted that he and the deceased woman had been friends for a long time. She had been using black magic and would often make demands due to which the suspect was under mental pressure, the prosecution added.
A case was registered at the Docks police station under Section 302 (murder) and 34 (Common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2026.
