KARACHI, Aug 21: Three leaders of the Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi denied on Wednesday their involvement in the June 14 carbomb explosion here at the US consulate when an anti-terrorism court formally indicted them in the case.

The self-styled chief of his own faction of the Al-Aalmi of the banned organization, Mohammed Imran, his deputy, Mohammed Ashraf, and finance secretary, Mohammed Hanif, pleaded “not guilty” and preferred to be tried in the case as Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1 read out the charges to them.

The three accused were charged with involvement in the US consulate carbomb blast that killed seven men and five women and injured 43 others. They are facing the charges under sections 302, 324,427 and 109 of PPC, section 3/4 of the Explosives Act and section 7-B of the Anti-terrorism Act.

The judge, who is holding the trial of the case inside the Central Prison, Karachi, put off the proceeding of the case to Saturday and ordered the prosecution to produce its witnesses in the court.

The Civil Lines police cited as many as 50 prosecution witnesses in the case.

The three Al-Aalmi leaders and Inspector Waseem Akhtar of the rangers were not indicted in the case pertaining to the attempt on the life of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Sources close to the prosecution said the four accused would be indicted after the carbomb blast case concluded.