HYDERABAD: Police believe that Noureen Jabbar, the missing girl student of Liaquat University of Medical Science (LUMS), Jamshoro has joined self-styled terrorist group Islamic State (IS) but his father is not agree with the police’s version.
Hyderabad SSP Irfan Baloch said that the police have reasons to believe that she was a religious extremist inspired by terrorist outfits. He continued, “We have investigated … talked to her friends and teachers. She came in contact with a terrorist organisation on Facebook. Facebook also blocked her accounts because of extremist content.” The SSP said, “She took a bus from the Daewoo stop and left for Lahore.”
On the other hand, Hyderabad DIG Khadim Hussain Rind said that it is early to attribute any reason to her disappearance. “During the course of the investigation, the complainant also cast doubt that she has eloped,” he added.
Khadim Hussain Rind said that the investigating team is considering different aspects of her disappearance. “It would be premature to say that she has gone off with some jihadi group or was kidnapped.”
19-year-old Noureen Jabbar, a second-year student at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences in Jamshoro went missing on February 10 from Hyderabad.
Muhammad Afzal, Noureen’s elder brother, received a Facebook message days after her disappearance from an unknown account in which Noureen allegedly told him that she has reached on the land of ‘khilafat’. “Brother, I am Noureen. Hope you all would be well. I am also well and happy. I am sending this message to tell you that I have migrated to the land of khilafat. I hope with the blessings of Allah, you people will also someday migrate to the land.” The message was sent from the facebook account of a person named Uswa Jatoi.
Noureen’s father, Professor Abdul Jabbar Laghari said, “She left home early morning on February 10. When she didn’t return by 5pm that day, I began to search for her.”
Prof Laghari denies that his daughter nurtured extremist tendencies. “She offered namaz and wore the hijab. But a majority of female students at LUMHS wear hijab. Does that mean they all have joined Da’ish?” he questioned.
He also pointed out alleged flaws in the police investigation. According to him, the police have so far not questioned any of the passengers who were travelling on the same Daewoo bus as Noureen. He added that the police have also not obtained closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from Daewoo’s 17 stops on the way to Lahore.
“The police claim she boarded the bus at 1:45pm but they can’t explain why her mobile phone was traced at 5:07pm near Agriculture Complex the same day,” said Prof Laghari.
Noureen always went to the university in the point bus from her residence at Zeeshan Plaza. After his search efforts, Prof Laghari lodged an initial complaint at the Hussainabad police station the same day. But, the FIR was registered over two weeks later, on February 25, nominating unidentified kidnappers under Section 365-B of the Pakistan Penal Code.
While Sindh University Teachers Association (Suta) President Dr Azhar Ali Shah said, “The police are just speculating to cover their failure – wearing a hijab has nothing to do with what is being alleged.”