Maham Amjad’s pursuit of justice for the murder of her father came to an end after 15 years when the evidence she provided helped Interpol arrest the prime suspect, Muhammad Taqi Shah, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“There’s more than one person involved in this murder,” she said during an interview with Aaj News. “Only the hitman has been arrested so far. There’s many behind the scenes who have yet to be arrested.”
Her father Muhammad Ahmed Amjad was the regional chief for Sindh and Balochistan at State Life Insurance Company. On August 26, 2008, he was shot dead in the State Life building on II Chundrigar Road in Karachi.
Lawyer Jibran Nasir said the accused should reach Pakistan within two weeks to a month after legal formalities. Interpol requested the Pakistani authorities to fulfill legal formalities for his extradition within 30 days. Police added that they would take three days.
Maham, a model and entrepreneur, said that Taqi Shah has threatened to kill her too. “More than 300 fake accounts were made in less than 48 hours of the news breaking of the arrest of the wanted criminal. All threatening to kill me and harassing me,” she said in a tweet on Monday.
The case was registered at the Mithadar police station on the complaint of Amjad’s personal assistant, Muhammad Arif, who was witness to the murder in 2008.
In the FIR, Muhammad Arif had stated that at half past eleven, Muhammad Taqi Shah, who was the sales manager at the company, went to Muhammad Amjad’s office and two minutes later, gunshots were heard from inside the office.
Muhammad Amjad was shifted to Jinnah hospital in critical condition where he died.
The murder weapon and shells of a handgun were recovered from the crime scene. The police investigation suggested that Shah had murdered Amjad for ordering a corruption inquiry against him. The court declared the accused a fugitive in 2009.
“He fled to Dubai from Lahore two months after the murder. Someone facilitated his escape,” Maham told Aaj News.
She said that she has been approached by many people who knew the murderer. “Everyone tells me he’s a fraud and he’s been flaunting the murder for years.”
Maham was only 15 years old at the time of the murder, and her elder sister was 19. Her mother was a housewife. She also has a brother who was studying aboard.
Maham Amjad, now 29, shared a video on her social media accounts in October 2022, with the caption, “I am requesting to whomever my voice is reaching to, to help me get justice for my father.” She tagged the acting CEO of State Life Insurance.
“My father was murdered in broad daylight at the State Life office. He was shot 10 times,” she said.
She said that State Life management had refused to assist the family in filing a police report. “A Grade 21 officer was murdered by a sales manager inside a government office and no further investigation was done. This just proves how corrupt this organization is,” she said.
An FIR was registered at the Mithadar police station, with Amjad’s assistant the witness who identified Shah as the murderer.
“We were under constant threat. Three years after the murder, we had to relocate to Lahore and we lived there under a presumed identity,” she said in the video.
It took her 15 years to reach a point where she could publicly call for justice.
In 2020, Maham found Shah’s profile on LinkedIn. The profile contained his work experience, which coincided with the time her father worked there.
She contacted her father’s friend who told her that it was the same Muhammad Taqi Shah responsible for her father’s murder.
She approached the authorities in Karachi, including DIG South Irfan Baloch. Another investigation was launched under the superintendent of police which resulted in a travel ban, Interpol ‘red notice’ and subsequent arrest in February 2023.
In November 2022, the accused shared a video claiming that he was being blamed for a murder he didn’t commit. He also called Maham “characterless” and she was trying to to defame him.
On February 21,2023, Maham tweeted an extradition notice and tagged Minister of Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, and said that after 14 years, 4 months and 29 days, her father’s killer had finally been arrested in the UAE.“His extradition files UAE has asked for are resting in your office since 17th Feb. Deadline to reach UAE is 23rd Feb.”
The next day, she tweeted an update:
