Car that crashed into Mufti Abdul Shakoor's vehicle was overspeeding: police

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad police, in an initial inquiry report into Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony and JUI-F MNA Mufti Abdul Shakoor's death in a car accident, said the vehicle that hit him was overspeeding. 

Separately, the Secretariat police registered a case over the accident on the complaint of Haji Qudratullah on Sunday. 

In an unfortunate incident, Shakoor's vehicle was hit by another vehicle while he was headed towards Secretariat Chowk after iftar on Saturday. 

The first information report (FIR) stated that Shakoor left the complainant's house for Parliament lodges at 8:22pm.

It stated that Shakoor was driving his car and the other vehicle rammed into the minister's car due to overspeeding and negligence. 

Sources told Geo News today that according to the police report, the car that crashed into Mufti Shakoor's vehicle was part of an entourage of a person associated with the poultry business. At the time of the accident, the car's speed was 110 kilometres per hour while the late minister was driving at 30 kilometres per hour.

According to the Motor Vehicle Examiner's report, the speed limit on Shahrah-e-Dastoor, where the accident occurred, was 60 kilometres per hour.

There was no technical fault in the car that hit the minister's vehicle, the report stated, adding that as a result of the accident, the wheel and axle of Mufti Shakoor's car broke apart.

Later in the day, a district and sessions court in Islamabad granted police two-day physical remand of the person who was driving the car that crashed into Mufti Shakoor's vehicle.

The driver, Rao Gul Khan, was presented in front of Duty Magistrate Malik Aman. The investigation officer requested the court to grant seven-day physical remand.

He informed the court that five people were sitting in the car that hit the late minister's vehicle, adding that the driver was arrested at the scene, two others were seriously injured and under treatment at the Polyclinic Hospital while two others were at large.

The investigation officer informed the court that police needed to conduct a drug test of the driver and arrest the remaining suspects to complete the investigation.

Subsequently, the duty magistrate granted police two-day physical remand. 

Meanwhile, the deceased minister was laid to rest in his hometown Tabji Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His funeral was attended by several MNAs, including Mohsin Dawar and Maulana Mohammad Anwer, and officials.

Mufti Abdul Shakoor dies in road accident

Islamabad police said in a statement yesterday that the minister was driving the car himself when a Toyota Hilux Revo — with five people onboard — smashed his vehicle at the driver's side.

The federal minister was shifted to Polyclinic Hospital in the federal capital, but due to severe internal bleeding, he succumbed to his wounds, the police said.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah directed the capital's police to ensure that a "complete investigation" was conducted regarding the accident.

"Initial information suggests that Mufti Shakoor passed away due to an injury to his head," Islamabad IG Khan told journalists outside the hospital on Sunday.

The religious scholar was elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-51 on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in the 2018 general elections.