Funeral prayers of Mufti Abdul Shakoor offered, laid to rest in Laki Marwat
LAKI MARWAT/ISLAMABAD, April 16 (SABAH): The funeral prayers of Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor were offered in Tajbi Khel area of Tehsil Betani in district Laki Marwat on Sunday.
Religious and political leaders, party workers besides a large number of local people attended the funeral. Later on his dead body was laid to rest at the graveyard situated in his native town.
Prior to this the funeral prayers was also offered at Jamia Darul Islam, G-6 in Islamabad. The funeral prayer was led by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) President and Ameer Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The funeral prayers were attedned by former prime minister Senaotr Makhdoom Syed yousuf Raza Gillani, Federal Ministers Maulana Asad Mahmood, Nawabzada Shahzain Khan Bugti, Mir Ahsanur Rehman Khan Mazari, Senator Talha Mahmood, SAPM Faisal Karim Kundi, Saudi Ambassador in Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, PML-N leader and former federal minister Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, MNA Ali Wazir Khan, Engineer Ziaur Rehman, Sahibzada Asjad Mahmood, Mufti Abdul Wahid Qureshi, Agha Syed Mahmood Shah, Pir Mufti Awais Aziz, Maulana Sharif Hazarvi, Mufti Abrar Ahmed, Maulana Abdul Rehman and others. Later on the dead body of Mufti Abdul Shakoor was sent to his native town Lakki Marwat.
Meanwhile a first information report (FIR) has been registered in Islamabad against five suspects involved in the road accident that claimed the life of Religious Affairs Minister Mufti Abdul Shakoor on Saturday night, it emerged on Sunday.
The federal minister and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) leader had died in a road accident in the capital’s Red Zone area on Saturday evening.
According to the police, the minister, 55, was heading towards Secretariat Chowk on Constitution Avenue when his car was hit by a Hilux vehicle with five passengers on board.
The minister was immediately shifted to the Polyclinic Hospital in a critical condition, but he couldn’t be resuscitated. At the time, police said all the five occupants of the other vehicle had been arrested and shifted to a nearby police station for investigation.
The FIR was registered late on Saturday night at Islamabad’s Secretariat police station on the complaint of Haji Qudratullah under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
In the FIR, Haji Qudratullah said that the minister was visiting his house for Iftar on Saturday. He said Mufti Shakoor had left for Parliament Lodges at 8:22 PM.
However, the complainant said his cook received a call from Mufti Shakoor’s driver at 10:00 PM regarding the minister’s death. The complainant said that the driver told his cook that the minister was driving his government car, a Toyota Corolla, when a Hilux crashed into it due to the other driver’s “inattentiveness and carelessness”.
Haji Qudratullah noted that as the matter was of a “highly sensitive degree”, “justice should be served” to the victim by “considering every aspect” and taking action against those present in the Hilux.
Meanwhile an initial inquiry report by Islamabad police into Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor’s death in a car accident in the capital on Saturday night revealed that the vehicle that crashed into the JUI-F leader’s car was going over the speed limit.
A statement issued by police last night said the minister was driving the car himself when a Toyota Hilux Revo — with five people onboard — smashed his vehicle at the driver’s side.
The federal minister was shifted to Polyclinic Hospital in the federal capital, but due to severe internal bleeding, he succumbed to his wounds, the police said.
Sources told a private TV chanel that the car that crashed into Mufti Shakoor’s vehicle was part of an entourage of a person associated with poultry business. At the time of the accident, the car’s speed was 110 kilometres per hour while the late minister was driving at 30 kilometres per hour.
According to the Motor Vehicle Examiner’s report, the speed limit on Shahrah-e-Dastoor, where the accident occurred, was 60 kilometres per hour.
There was no technical fault in the car that hit the minister’s vehicle, the report stated, adding that as a result of the accident, the wheel and axle of Mufti Shakoor’s car broke apart.
Late Saturday night, Islamabad police had shared pictures of Islamabad Inspector General Akbar Nasir Khan and Chief Commissioner Noorul Amin Mengal visiting the area where the accident took place.
The minister’s ravaged black Corolla could be seen in the background as police and government officials inspected the scene.
Islamabad Inspector-General Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan, Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb, and other federal ministers also reached the hospital, where Shakoor breathed his last.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan directed the capital’s police to ensure that a “complete investigation” is conducted regarding the accident.
“Initial information suggests that Mufti Shakoor passed away due to an injury to his head,” Islamabad IG Khan told journalists outside the hospital.
The religious scholar was elected as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) from NA-51 on the ticket of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) in the 2018 general elections.
Meanwhile President Dr. Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and other political leaders have expressed sorrow over the sad demise of the Minister.
Expressing grief and sorrow over the death, the Prime Minister condolenced with the family and relatives of the deceased, and said that Mufti Abdul Shakoor was a practical scholar, an ideological political activist and a good human being.
He said Mufti Abdul Shakoor was among the dynamic and ideological leaders of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), who performed his duties as Minister of Religious Affairs with great diligence, sincerity and honesty.
PM Shehbaz Sharif prayed that May Allah Almighty grant the deceased a high place in Jannat al-Firdous, and grant patience to the bereaved family.