ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction with progress in a case pertaining to the rape and murder of four-year-old Asma in Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkwa.
Headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar, a three-member bench is hearing the case at the principal seat of the apex court in Islamabad.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mardan police Alam Khan Shinwari informed that DNA samples from 218 suspects had been taken and around 300 people had been interrogated in the case.
When asked whether the samples have been sent to the forensic lab in Lahore, he said the lab officials had barred him from sending them until they ask for.
He, however, said the samples will be sent for testing today.
On this, the chief justice questioned whether the suspected killer was affiliated with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).
Shinwari categorically stated that there was no political meddling in the affairs of the police department.
On January 26, the chief justice took suo motu notice of the rape and murder of little Asma and sought a report from the Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The minor girl went missing on January 13 from Jandarpar Gujjar Garhi area of Mardan and her body was later found in sugarcane fields in the same area on January 17.
According to the post-mortem report, she was subjected to sexual assault and torture before her captors strangulated her to death.
The police have so far failed to nab the culprit behind the grisly incident, which came to the light following the rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur.
Around two hundred people have been interrogated and their DNA samples were collected during the investigation of Mardan incident but the culprits are still at large.
