A 29-year-old man, a prime suspect in the abduction and murder of his former wife – an American national of Pakistani origin, has confessed to the murder and burying her body, the police said on Saturday, after more than two months the case was reported in the city, Dawn reported.
“Suspect Rizwan Habib Bangash, 29, had murdered his ex-wife Wajiha Farooq Swati, 47, after kidnapping her and shifted the corpse to Lakki Marwat where he buried it in a room of his servant’s house in the Peezo area,” Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Sajid Kiani said while addressing a press conference. SSP (Investigations) Syed Ghazanfar Ali Shah and SP (Potohar Division) Rana Abdul Wahab accompanied the CPO at the presser.
Elaborating on the details of the investigation, the CPO said that it was found that the American citizen had been demanding back her property worth millions of rupees that she had transferred in the name of Rizwan before their divorce. They added that the police had recovered the body from the house in Lakki Marwat on the basis of information provided by the killer himself.
The body was being shifted to Rawalpindi, Kiyani said, adding: “The body will be brought to the DHQ hospital for a post-mortem examination after which it will be handed over to her heirs for burial.”
The police also claimed to have arrested the father and servant of the suspect on charges of “aiding and abetting” the murder. The police investigation teams visited many cities to gather evidence and grill suspects, the CPO said, adding that the police used “latest technology and human intelligence” to solve the murder case.
Kiyani said: “Four special investigation teams have been formed under the supervision of SSP (Investigations) Shah to solve the case.”
The US embassy was also in contact with the police, he said and called upon the media to refrain from relying on “unverified” information about the case as the investigation was still under way. He added that the police would soon arrest other suspects.
“We will share all details with the media once the investigations are completed,” he said.
Wajiha Swati’s body was exhumed from the Wargher locality of Darra Peezu town in Lakki Marwat district on Saturday.
The American national was abducted on October 16. A case was registered at the Morgah Police Station in Rawalpindi on a complaint of her eldest son Abdullah Mehdi, who is based in the US. In the FIR, Rizwan was nominated as the prime suspect.
Punjab CM Usman Buzdar and the government spokesperson lauded the police for their solving the case.
