ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court gave the Sindh police chief four weeks on Wednesday to arrest the absconding principal accused in the March 13, 2013, murder of Perween Rehman, the Director of Karachi`s Orangi Pilot Project (OPP).

Rejecting a report submitted by Additional Advocate General of Sindh Qazi Shaharyar on behalf of the Sindh police, a three-judge Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, ordered the Inspector General of Sindh Police, Allah Dino Khawaja, to take effective measures to arrest Rahim Swati, the principal accused in the high-profile murder case.

Swati used to run an illegal hydrant business in the city. At the last hearing on July 6, 2015, the Sindh police had assured the Supreme Court that they would arrest Swati soon but failed to make any headway.

On March 13, 2013, Ms Rehman was going home from her office when assailants on a motorbike approached her car on the main Manghopir Road near the Banaras Flyover and opened fire.

She suffered bullet injuries in the neck and was taken by her driver to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where she died.

On Wednesday, her sister, petitioner Aquila Ismail and well-known social worker Shoaib Sultan Khan, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Rural Support Programme Network, attended the court proceedings.

Representing the petitioner, Advocate Raheel Kamran Sheikh regretted that even after the third anniversary of Ms Rehman`s murder, police had failed to arrest the assailants.

Meanwhile, the Sindh police conceded in a report prepared by the Deputy Inspector General, West Zone, that their investigation had confirmed the role of Rahim Swati in the murder of Ms Rehman, who lived just opposite the OPP office.

The accused usedto park his vehicle in front of the OPP gate, causing inconvenience to office-bearers of the project.

The OPP office covers a vast courtyard and Swati wanted to occupy it to develop shops on the northern side of the office, the report said, adding that Swati once used the lawn of OPP for a valima reception of his son despite having failed to obtain Ms Rehman`s permission.

The police assured the court that cellular phone numbers of Swati were being monitored with the help of sister agencies but he kept on changing his mobile phone.

His technical surveillance was continuing since Sept 2014. Since then Swati had changed 10 cellphone numbers. The phone was later found to be silent.

Likewise, the cellular number of his wife was also being monitored as she might contact her spouse but still no clue had surfaced,the reportsaid.

During the investigation, the police report said, it was revealed that Swati had ordered his brother-in-law Shaldad, believed to be the commander of the Swat chapter of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, who at present was hiding in Afghanistan, to assassinate Ms Rehman because she was obstructing his illegal business. Amjad Afridi and Ayaz Swati were key members of the assassination team.

The report highlighted the need of funds and said that a joint investigation team (JIT) had sanctioned Rs500,000 since there was a continuous need for sending police parties to remote areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to arrest the absconding accused.