The prime suspect in the death of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) graduate Laiba Ijaz allegedly used ChatGPT to impersonate a woman and her brother to deceive the student into believing he could arrange a US visa for her, police sources revealed on Monday.
Laiba, a gold medallist who had completed her BS degree from IIUI, wanted to pursue further studies in the United States. Her family alleged that the suspect defrauded her on the pretext of arranging admission to a US university and provided her with fake documents.
Her body was found hanging by the roadside in Islamabad's G-10 sector on Friday, October 9, after she discovered that the documents were fake. Police said she was under severe mental stress following the alleged fraud.
The suspect, Muhammad Noman, was arrested from Islamabad's H-13 sector and was handed over to police on a five-day physical remand by a judicial magistrate today for further investigation. Police sources suspect that he may have defrauded other women as well.
According to police sources, Noman first came into contact with Laiba in March 2023, when she applied for an internship at an insurance company where he worked. He later hired Laiba, her sister, and mother to advertise a tuck shop.
The shop was managed by a woman named Aiza, whose brother lived in the United States. When Laiba sought Noman's help in obtaining a US visa, he allegedly assured her that he could arrange it through Aiza's brother.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Noman allegedly created another online account posing as Aiza and used ChatGPT to impersonate her and her brother during conversations with Laiba. Noman allegedly sent Laiba documents that appeared genuine.
She became suspicious after he repeatedly changed her visa interview date, first telling her it would be September 1, then September 17, and finally September 26. She subsequently checked the documents and discovered they were fake, the sources said.
According to police sources, Laiba had given Noman 2.1 million rupees obtained by her father from the sale of a plot, along with jewellery belonging to her stepmother. Under pressure to return the jewellery, she allegedly asked Noman to give it back first.
Noman subsequently began ignoring her and cut off contact. Investigators said he had deleted data from his mobile phone before his arrest and plan to conduct a forensic examination to recover the data and identify potential additional victims.