MOBILE phone records are said to show the chief suspect in the suspected honour killing of a Scot and his wife in Pakistan made frequent phone calls to the couple's chauffeur, who has been arrested over the murders.
Shop manager Saif Rehman, 31, and his 30-year-old wife Uzma Naurin were ambushed and shot by four people in a murder believed to be linked to a bitter dispute over their marriage.
Police want to question Uzma’s father Muzafar Hussain, a New Jersey taxi driver, in connection with the killings.
Mr Rehman’s brother-in-law, Captain Ishtiaq Ahmad, a senior Pakistan army officer, claims to have uncovered the potentially vital new evidence linking Mr Hussain to his driver, Adil Ahmed, who had been asked to carry out the same role for the couple.
Ahmed was arrested by Pakistani police after disappearing from the murder scene.
Mr Rehman’s family say Capt Ahmad, based at the Kharian Cantonment in the Gujarat province of Punjab, used Army intelligence to obtain phone records linking Mr Hussain to Adil Ahmed.
Ahmed had been chauffeuring the couple and other family members in the hours leading up to the murders.
It is claimed there were some instances in which the calls were as little as five to 10 minutes apart.
Mr Rehman’s Pakistani parents Mohammad and Gulnisa Zakir, from Abbottabad, have already written to the US ambassador in Pakistan, Cameron Munter, asking for action over Mr Hussain.
He is thought to have discharged himself from an army-run hospital where he was having a minor operation and disappeared after the killing in Lalamusa.
The family say he did not go to the funeral and police say he boarded a US-bound flight from Karachi.
Ms Naurin was the first in her family to shun the traditional arranged marriage and wed someone outside of the family. It is said her parents could not accept it and she moved out of the family home.
Ms Naurin’s first husband committed suicide. She subsequently refused to enter an arranged second marriage with her dead husband’s brother because he was too young.
Mr Hussain has denied involvement in the killings on November 1.
Mr Rehman’s 24-year-old brother Abdul Majid, who has been living in London and Glasgow, said: “They have the phone records for that day and [Mr Hussain and Mr Ahmed] are in constant contact. They were communicating with each other all the time.
“There are many people involved in this. I want everyone involved in this to be caught.”
Mr Rehman, who ran a mobile phone repair centre in Glasgow, was shot dead in front of his sister and Capt Ahmad’s wife Fauzia and their two-year-old daughter – the Scot’s niece – in Lalamusa.
Their killers then kidnapped Ms Naurin, who lived in New York, took her to an isolated spot 10 minutes away and shot her before dumping her body in bushes.
Capt Ahmad, who is married to Mr Rehman’s sister, said in a statement made to the police in Gujrat: “Uzma’s family weren’t happy with the marriage. This shouldn’t have happened and it should be investigated why this has happened.”
Mr Rehman’s close friend Saif Ali, who is in frequent contact with Mr Rehman’s family, believes Capt Ahmad’s influence is ensuring t police are progressing the investigation diligently.
“His influence is making a lot of heads turn,” he said.
Ms Naurin married Mr Rehma in a private ceremony in a Glasgow house with just three witnesses three years ago.
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