KARACHI, Dec 18: Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi, the judge of the anti-terrorism court-1, put off on Wednesday to Dec 24 the trial of the accused in the case of attempt to kill President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf.

Accused Mohammed Imran, Mohammed Hanif, Sharib and others of the Harkatul Mujahideen Al Almi, a break-away faction of the Harkatul Mujahideen, are on trial in the case inside the Central Prison Karachi.

According to the prosecution, the accused conspired to blow off a jeep parked on the main Sharea Faisal along the route of the president’s motorcade in Karachi in April. The conspiracy failed as the remote control device developed fault, preventing the detonation of a huge quantity of explosives.

Earlier, the ATC judge also dismissed an application moved by Raza Ali Abidi, counsel for accused Mohammed Imran. The counsel prayed to the court to order the jail authorities to treat the accused as per the jail manual and not to keep his client in solitary confinement.

The counsel maintained, in the application, that due to continuous solitary confinement, his client was developing psychological problems, and if it continued, he might become a lunatic.

The court dismissed the application instructing the counsel to approach the Sindh Home Department for a remedy under the law/the jail manual. — APP