ISLAMABAD: Anchorperson Dr. Shahid Masood submitted a written apology to the Supreme Court after his claims regarding the Zainab murder case convict were proved false.
On March 1, the JIT had submitted its report to the Supreme Court and dismissed all of the anchorperson’s allegations regarding the high-profile case.
In his reply, the anchor has said that he does not wish to fight a case based on the findings of the committee. He also assured the court that he would remain cautious in his conduct in future.
It is pertinent to mention that Masood had said he would not apologise under any condition after the last hearing.
Zainab murder case allegations
Zainab was kidnapped on January 4 in Kasur and found dead five days later from a garbage pile. The post-mortem revealed Zainab had been raped. Later, the authorities succeeded in nabbing the suspect, Imran. He has since been sentenced to death by the trial court.
In a TV show on Jan 25, Dr Masood had claimed the convict had links with an influential figure and was part of an international ring. The chief justice had taken notice of the claims and sought a subsequent inquiry by a JIT.
In its report to the apex court, the JIT declared baseless all of the 18 allegations levelled by the anchorperson.
The JIT report stated that no proof was found of the convict’s connection with an influential person or that he was being patronised by a federal minister.
It also stated that no links of the convict with an international mafia or a serving federal minister were found.
Similarly, no proof was found that the convict could be killed while in police custody or that violent crime/child pornography is common in Kasur.
Moreover, the JIT did not find any truth to Dr Masood’s claims that many gangs are involved in violent crime/child pornography in Pakistan or that Imran was an active member of such gangs.
Allegations that the convict’s bank accounts were spread throughout Pakistan or that he received payments from abroad for crimes were also proven to be false.
Additionally, claims that Imran sent Zainab’s picture to international viewers before committing the crime, or that the incident was viewed live via the internet, were found to be false, with an observation by the JIT members that no evidence of Imran ever accessing the dark web or internet have been found.
Moreover, no proof was found that Dr Masood handed the name of an influential figure linked to the convict to the Supreme Court, nor was there any truth found about the claim that a close friend of the influential figure living abroad communicated information about the role of influential figure in violent crime/child pornography in Pakistan.
The report also revealed that the rejection of the convict’s multiple bank accounts had already been issued by the relevant authority.
The JIT, headed by Federal Investigation Agency Director General Bashir Memon, included Intelligence Bureau Joint DG Anwar Ali and Islamabad Police’s Assistant Inspector General (Operations) Asmatullah Junejo.
