New details emerged on Sunday in the murder of Pakistani-American woman Wajiha Swati, including the prime suspect's intention of running away to Poland following the alleged crime.
Police sources told Geo News that Swati's ex-husband and prime suspect, Rizwan Habib, who has been arrested for allegedly murdering her and who police claimed a day earlier had "confessed" to the crime, has disclosed further details to the interrogation team.
According to the police, Habib revealed that his father — who has also been arrested on charges of aiding and abetting the murder — had said that "it would cost only Rs50,000 to kill Wajiha".
Police said that Habib told interrogation officers that he killed his ex-wife Wajiha with "a sharp instrument" and shifted her body to Hangu.
They further said that Habib confessed to skillfully hiding Wajiha's body in a car and taking it to a close relative's house in Hangu.
They further said that the suspect told police that he had planned to seek asylum and citizenship in Poland after the murder, for which he had obtained a passport.
On the other hand, sources within Swati's family have confirmed that her body will be sent to the United States.
According to the sources, Wajiha's children have refused to bury their mother's body in Pakistan, due to which the US embassy officials are making arrangements to send the body to New York.
Meanwhile, a court granted police further physical remand of Habib, handing him over for three more days.
In addition, Habib's father and a worker of Habib's were also sent into police custody for three days.
The police said that they have to obtain the murder weapon and the car used to transport the body to Hangu from the suspects.
They added that they have to probe the worker's alleged involvement in transporting the body.
The body of Wajiha Swati, who went missing from Rawalpindi in October, was found from Lakki Marwat, police said yesterday.
City Police Officer Rawalpindi Sajid Kiani, addressing a press conference, said that the case is under investigation and the police will not divulge too many details at this point.
Kiani did reveal some aspects that came to light during investigations, such as Swati arriving in Pakistan on October 16 and being received by her former husband Rizwan Habib.
He went on to say that three people — Habib, his father, and one other suspect — have been arrested in connection with the case.
The CPO said that Wajiha's body was found from Lakki Marwat's Pizu area and that it is being brought to Islamabad.
He said that further investigations are underway and more arrests are expected.
The police officer said that the probe team gathered sufficient evidence after which the arrests were made. He added that the US embassy sought details from the police owing to Swati being a US citizen.
"How the murder was carried out, what weapon was used, is something it would be too premature to comment on," the CPO said.
He vowed that the police will ensure the culprits get their just desserts.
A day ago, sources within the police claimed that Habib has confessed to killing his ex-wife.
Habib "confessed to his crime" during police interrogation, the sources said.
The sources said that Swati came to Pakistan from England on October 16 to resolve property issues with her ex-husband.
The US woman was murdered the same day she arrived in Rawalpindi, they added.
A case relating to her abduction was registered at Morgah Police Station in Rawalpindi on the complaint of her son.
According to the sources, Habib said that he had killed Swati on October 16 and buried her body in Hangu.
On the directions of RPO Rawalpindi, a police team was sent to Hangu to recover the body.
DPO Ikramullah Khan said that the police arrested Habib's father last night from Hangu on charges of aiding and abetting the murder.
The DPO said that Swati's body has yet to be exhumed.
On December 23, the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench's Justice Raja Shahid Mehmood Abbasi ordered the city police officer (CPO) to recover Swati soon otherwise the court will summon the Inspector General of Police. The court had ordered the police to present her in court after recovering her.
Rawalpindi police arrested Habib and produced him before the judicial magistrate Zaheer Safdar. The court handed over the accused to the police on a four-day physical remand.
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